JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES
VOLUME 12, 1922
■^••^
.LxJ L I 3 R A R
S. F. Blake
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ERRATA
Vol. 12, 1922
P. 254, line 24 For kuntzii
P. 273, line 28 For Atypus
P. 278, line 17 from bottom. . .For Densore
read combsii
read Pachnaeus
read DensmorE
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 January 4, 1922 No. 1
MATHEMATICS. — A mathematical note on the annealing of glass. '^
B. D. Williamson, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Insti-
tution of Washington.
In a recent paper^ Adams and Williamson have discussed at some
length the annealing of glass. It is not the object of the present note
to revise the deductions made from the experimental data but rather
to show how the mathematical treatment of the equations represent-
ing these deducticns may be made more rigorous. The immediate
practical aim is to discover whether this course will indicate a possible
procedure by which the time spent in the annealing process can be
materially shortened. We shall anticipate by saying that this is
found to be the case and a fifteen per cent reduction of time can be
made. A future communication will give detailed schedules for va-
ious types of glass on this new basis.
The problem to be solved may be stated as follows. A block of
glass is found to be in a condition of internal strain. By holding it
at a temperature somewhat below the softening point the strain may
be removed at a rate depending on that temperature. Further strain
will be added during the cooling process due to temperature differences
set up in cooling. It is required to find at what temperature to hold
the glass, how long to hold it at that temperature (or, what is the
same thing, to what degree of completeness to remove the strain)
and how rapidly to cool at every point in the course of cooling so that
the least possible time be taken consistent with the final strain being
inside the allowable limits.
The notation used is that of the paper already cited.
^ = temperature in degrees Centigrade.
do = temperature at which glass is held to remove strain.
* Received November 15, 192L
* L. H. Adams and E. D. Wiluamson. Journ. Franklin Inst. 190: 597-631; 835-870.
1920.
2 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SClENCEvS VOL. 12, NO. 1
/i = cooling rate in degrees per minute.
ho = initial cooling rate at 60 .
A/^ = total strain allowable in optical units.
AA^a = strain left in glass after holding at do.
AA/^c = strain introduced by temperature differences in cooling.
/a = annealing time = time the glass is held at 60.
/c = time spent in cooling.
A = annealing constant as found in table 3, op. cit.
Ao = value of A at 60.
c = constant, depending on the type of glass, defined by equation
(10), page 841, op. cit.
The last part of the problem will be solved first. That is, if the
glass has been held at do till the strain is reduced to AN^ how must
it be cooled so that t^ may be a minimum consistent with the final
strain being A'', or in other words, having ANc = N— AN J
tc= -\ —r- and A^ - AN^ = AAT, = -cM A
J w ^ h
the latter being the integral of equation 12 in the previous paper
which depends on the experimental results set forth there. Applying
the calculus of variations to find /j as a function of d yields
const — ( —
6h\h
h'--^\^ constant = Ao Uo ' - —^ j (1)
Now it is shown in the previous paper that
e -0o
A=Ao.2
10
Therefore (/.- ^'U (^/.o-^^^ 2 ^'.
(•
c' J V c'
Equation (1) shows how the rate may be increased as the temperature
drops, and ho, the initial rate, may be found by the condition that
ANc = N— AN^. The time consumed will then be the minimum
JAN. 4, 1922
WILLIAMSON : ANNEALING OF GLASS
possible under the conditions of the problem. An example of how
the cooling rate changes is found in table 1.
The problem may now be restated. t^ is a function of ^o and ^N^,
and t^ can also be expressed in terms of these by means of equation (1)
and the proper value of ho , that is, provided the necessary integrations
can be carried out. Can values of Ao and AN^ be chosen so that
{io + ^c) iii^y t)e a minimum?
Now/,= --
huth^
ANJ
{'■-'¥)
10
From the latter, taking the logarithm of each side and differentiating
20hdh
dd= -
(--'-f)
In 2
Therefore L =
20
dh
10 c
ln2\ _AiV„
ANJn2
In
ho
h +
AN.
In actual practice the cooling proceeds over a range of several hundred
degrees. By this time h is large compared with ANJc so that the
upper limit of the integral may be taken as containing In 1 and hence
is zero.
The result therefore is
t =
10c
he
AN^ In 2
In
c
ho — —
c
in which ho has yet to be determined by the condition
V
4 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
N- AN.=^ -c'X^"^ ^ de.
Making the same substitution as before for dd, and remembering
10
that A = Ao 2o , the integration is simple, and yields
20 c^Ao[ho
TV - AiV„ =
In 2
Taking the value of ho from this and substituting in the value of t,
we get
c>
tr =
10 C
AN a In 2
In
"(N - aN^) In 2 + 40 cAo AN^
{N- AN,) In 2
We shall assume that the original strain in the glass is so large that
1
its reciprocal is negligible compared with "TT7~ Then by equation
{7c) in the previous communication
1
^^ Ao AN.
Therefore t^-h tc =
+
10c
AoAN. AA^„ln2
In
XN - ANg) In 2 + 40 cAo AN,
{N - AiVJln2
]
Partial differentiation with respect to ^4© and AN^ yields two equations
as conditions for (t, + t^) having a minimum value. After a little
simplification these take the form
580 AN^c'^Ao^ = (AT - AN,) In 2 + 40 ANMo
and In
(A^ - ANg) In 2 + 40 ANMq
{N - AA^,)ln2
AA^,ln2
{N - AN,) 10 cA,
The form of the second equation makes it necessary to use an approxi-
JAN. 4, 1922 WII.LIAMSON: ANNEALING OF GI^ASS 5
mate solution. A sufficiently close one is
cAo = 0.075
A^^ = 0.725 N.
If, then, we know c, the constant which depends on the elastic prop-
erties of the glass, and have a table like table 3 in the older paper
showing the values of A for various temperatures, the required prob-
lem is completely solved and one can say definitely that the glass
must be held a certain temperature for a certain time and be cooled
at a predetermined rate at every instant of its cooling in order that
the necessary conditions may be fulfilled.
The total time necessary for the process is
re c
+ ^ ^, ^^^ . =66.9--
0.075X0.725 A 0.075X0.275 A N
In computing this the value of tc was simplified by means of the second
conditional equation.
As an illustration the case of a slab of plate glass 2 cm. thick will
be treated. This is the same example that was previously used to
illustrate four different procedures. In this case c is about 13 and
0.075
we shall suppose A = 5 as in the older work. Then Ao =
13
0.0058, and reference to figure 12, in the original, places this at about
520° C, which is 6° higher than in the fastest previous schedule.
ANa will be equal to 3.625. The glass must be held at this temperature
for = 47 . 6 minutes, and the total time will be 174
0.0058X3.625
minutes or a little better than 15 per cent less than in the best previous
schedule.
^, ..,.,, , 1-7 (iV- ANJ\n2 + 20cAo AN,
The initial rate of cooling ho = ^
20 c~Ao
= (in this case) 0.33° per minute. The table shows how that rate
increases as the temperature drops.
We have been asked recently how long a time is necessary for an-
nealing a sheet of glass 25 feet in diameter and 2 feet thick. If the
glass be one for which the constants are known the question can be
easily answered. Suppose the glass is of the same type as in the
previous example, then c will be approximately 13 X 30". The final
6 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
allowable strain in this particular case was given as A^ = 20. We
then find
13 X 30^
*' = 0.075X0.725X20 '"'""'"' = ^°^''° "'""^'^ = ^'^ ^^^^-
13 X 30^
Total time = 66.9 X — — minutes = 39140 minutes = 27.2 days.
0.075
= 13 ^ 3Q2 = 0.0000064.
Therefore ^o=419° C. (see table 5 and equation (8), op. cit.), and
30^
ho = 0.33 X ^2 X 1440° C. per day = 2.11° C. per day. The glass
should therefore be held at 419° C. for seven and one-half days and then
cooled, the initial cooling rate being a little over 2° per day and in-
creasing as in the table.
TABLE 1. — Schedule According to Which the Cooling Rate Should Be Increased
Initial rate 1.00
Rate after 10° cooling 1.12
Rate after 20 ° cool ing 1 .36
Rate after 30 "cooling 1.73
Rate after 40° cooling 2.30
Rate after 50° cooling 3.15
Rateafter 60° cooling 4.36
Rate after 70 ° cooling 6.12
Rate after 80° cooling 8.60
Rateafter 90° cooling 12.15
Rateafter 100° cooling" 17.14
" In the later part of the range the cooling-rate practically doubles every 20 °.
SUMMARY
From the equations representing the results of experimental work
previously described, the most favorable conditions for annealing a
given piece of glass can be deduced. Formulas are found which,
used in conjunction with tables of the elastic and annealing constants
of the glass, show at what temperature to hold the glass, how long
to hold it at that temperature, and how rapidly to cool it in order to
get any degree of fineness of annealing in the least possible time.
Examples are solved to illustrate the processes.
JAN. 4, 1922 schaller: gillespite 7
MINERALOGY.— Gille spite, a new mineral.'^ Wai^demar T. Schal-
LER, U. S. Geological Survey,
A small rock specimen collected from a moraine near his claim near
the head of Dry Delta, Alaska range (about 100 miles S. E. of Fair-
banks), Alaska, by Mr. Frank Gillespie (after whom the mineral is
named) of Richardson, Alaska, was brought to the Chemical Labora-
tory of the U. S. Geological Survey by Dr. Philip S. Smith of the
Survev.
The rock specimen is composed chiefly of a mica-like mineral
(gillespite) , with a striking red color, w^hich could not be identified
by simple tests. By chemical analysis the mineral proved to be
a silicate of ferrous iron and barium with the composition Fe"BaSi40io.
Two other minerals, a grayish green diopside and a white barium feld-
spar, with the red gillespite, compose the rock. Several other minerals
are seen in thin sections but only in very small quantities. The
mode of occurrence of the rock is not known but it suggests contact
metamorphism with the development of abundant barium minerals.
The red gillespite forms thick scaly masses from one to five milli-
meters across and nearly as thick. The rock mass is compact and
although no crystal faces except the basal plane could be detected,
thin sections of the rock suggest an occasional terminal plane on a
gillespite. The mineral does not scale off like mica but the basal
cleavage is very well developed. The physical properties are : brittle,
H. = 4, sp. gr. = 3.33. Luster vitreous, color red, streak pink. The
color is close to Ridgway's^ "Pomegranate Purple," PI. XII, hue no.
71, tone i, and to "Spinel Red," PI. XXVI, hue no. 71, tone b. The
powder approaches "Geranium Pink," PI. I, hue no. 3, tone d. Trans-
lucent. Optically uniaxial, negative, birefringence very low, strongly
pleochroic. Refractive indices: e (rose red) 1.619, co (pale pink to
nearly colorless) 1.621.
In the blow-pipe flame, gillespite fuses easily and quietly to a black
non-magnetic globule. Heated in a closed tube, it darkens and as-
sumes a deep violet color, the original red color being regained on
cooling. Readily decomposed by HCl, without gelatinization, the
mineral flakes being changed to glistening flakes of silica which retain
the shape of the original mineral. These residues of silica are doubly
^ Received October 24, 1921. Published by permission of the Director, U. S. Geological
Survey.
2 R. RiDGWAY, Color standards and color nomenclature. Washington, D. C, 1912.
8 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
refracting and are being further studied. Sulphuric acid decomposes
the mineral with separation of silica and formation of barium sulphate.
An analysis of a hand-picked sample of gillespite, with only a few
per cent of other mineral present gave the following results :
Analysis of gillespite Ratios
Si02 50.08 0.831 4.034 or 4 X 1 .01
FeO 14.60 0.203 0.985 or 1 X 0.99
BaO 31.02 0.202 0.980 or 1 X 0.98
AI2O3 0.34
FeaOs 0.56 0.008
MnzOa 0.14
Insoluble 2.20
Water" 0.82
99.76
" Water determined by "ignition loss" corrected for (assumed) oxidation of FeO to
Fe203. Selected pure fragments of gillespite give no water when heated in a closed tube.
The formula of gillespite is FeO.Ba0.4Si02 or Fe"BaSi40io. If
the ferrous iron and the barium be considered as isomorphously re-
placing each other, then the formula simplifies to (Fe",Ba)Si20r,.
There is, however, no evidence for such isomorphous replacement
and as the ratios of ferrous iron and barium in the analysis are sharply
1:1, the formula Fe'^BaSi^Oio is to be preferred.
The presence of the small quantity of manganese was definitely
determined and it is assumed to be present in the strongly chromatic
manganic state; the combination of such manganic manganese with
possibly a small quantity of ferric iron yielding the deep red color of
the mineral. Titanium is not present.
There does not seem to be any group of minerals to which gillespite
is closely related, considering its properties and chemical composition.
ICHTHYOLOGY. — Notice of a spiral valve in the Teleostean fish
Argentina silus, with a discussion of some skeletal and other char-
acters.^ William C. Kendall and Donald R. Crawford,
U. S. Bureau of Fisheries.
introduction
Distribution.- — -Argentina silus is found rather infrequently along
the Atlantic coast of the United States, although it is not rare off the
coast of Norway. The flesh is edible, but Argentina silus is not
taken in sufficient quantities to be of economic importance.
* Received November 19, 1921.
JAN. 4, 1922 KENDALL AND CRAWFORD: ARGENTINA SILUS 9
»
The following are the only records known to us of the capture of
the species on the Atlantic coast of the United States. A specimen
was found in the stomach of Physis tenuis taken off Sable Island in
200 fathoms, which is recorded by Goode and Bean as type number
U. S. N. M. 21624, "Argentina syrtensium" (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus.,
1878, page 261), and in Oceanic Ichthyology, page 52, as Argentina
silus.
In July, 1891, a specimen 18 inches long (U. S. N. M. No. 43708)
was caught by a boy with a hook and line in the harbor of Belfast,
Maine. (Goode and Bean, Oceanic Ichthyolog}^ page 52.) Another,
No. 37801, 15 inches (381.0 mm.) long, was taken at Biddeford Pool,
Maine (loc. cit.), March 19, 1886.
In 1904, Mr. John R. Neal, of Boston, Mass., sent in for identi-
fication by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries a specimen about 13.5 inches
(342.9 mm.) long, taken by a fisherman probably on Georges Bank,
September 19 of that year. Another specimen in the collection of
the U. S. National Museum, No. 55636, was found at Fletchers Neck,
near Ocean Beach, Maine, May 7, 1906.
In the collection of Mr. W. W. Welsh, of the U. S. Bureau of Fish-
eries, are two young specimens collected on the coast of Maine as
follows: 1 specimen 49 mm. long, August 14, 1912, in a closing net
at a depth of 35 fathoms, 33 miles north from Mt. Desert Rock.
Another, 38 mm. long, August 13, 1913, 25 miles N. K. from Petit
Manan light, somewhere above a depth of 110 fathoms.
In December, 1912, a specimen about 15 inches (381.0 mm.) long was
found on Hampton Beach, N. J., and was sent to the Bureau of Fish-
eries by Mr. B. F. Smart, of the U. S. Life Saving Service.
Early in January, 1914, a specimen nearly 14 inches (355.6 mm.)
long was found at Hampton Beach and sent in to the Bureau. These
latter specimens form the basis for the observations comprised in
this paper.
Habits.- — Little is know^n of the habits of this fish. It has been caught
in the north Atlantic from Iceland to the coast of Ireland,- in rather
deep water. The eggs^ of Argentina silus are 3.0 to 3.5 mm. in di-
ameter and are bathypelagic ; that is, they float far below the surface
where they have been taken in 50 to over 1,000 meters of water.
* JOHS. Schmidt, On the Larvae and Post-larval Development of the Argentines (Argentina
silus Ascan. and Argentina sphyraena Linne). Meddelelser Fra Kommissionenfor Hovun-
ders gelser, Sene Fiskeri, Kobenhavn. 2: 1-20. Nov. 4, 1906.
« Op. cit.
10 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOIv. 12, NO. 1
It is known that this fish may be caught on bait of mussels {Mytilus,
according to Nilsson), or on pieces of herring.^ According to Holt,^
one specimen caught off the coast of Ireland had in its stomach remains
of shrimps and copepods, one of which was identified as Calamus
finmarchichus, which is known to inhabit the bottom.
VISCERAL ANATOMY
Alimentary Tract and Spiral Valve
The presence of a spiral valve is of considerable interest since up
to the present time but one living adult Teleost was known to possess
a true spiral valve in the intestine.
Fig. 1. Stomach and intestine of Argentina silus X Vs- — h attachment of liver;
s, cardiac limb of stomach; p, pyloric limb of stomach; pc, pyloric caeca;
<f, duodenum; 5Z>, spiral valve; c, rectum. ^, small portion of spiral valve,
with part of the outer wall removed to show internal structure, semi-diagram-
matic, X 6.
In Argentina silus it has no doubt been overlooked partly because
its presence hitherto was unsuspected and also because of the com-
paratively few specimens available for study. It is not known from
the limited material examined whether or not this structure is as
variable in different individuals of Argentina silus as it is known to
be in different individuals of some species of rays and sharks. The
two specimens at hand were essentially the same, each showing a
true spiral cavity wound around a small central canal. Thus, the
* F. A. SMifT, Scandinavian Fishes, ed. 2, 2: 916. Stockholm, 1895.
' W. L. Holt, The Great Silver Smelt, Argentina silus, Nilss. An addition to the List
of British Fishes. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.
N. S. 5: 341-342. 1897-99.
JAN. 4, 1922 KENDALL AND CRAWFORD: ARGENTINA SILUS 11
spiral valve in Argentina silus is fully as well developed as it is in the
ganoids, among which it is very well developed in Polypterus and
the Sturgeon, but vestigeal in Lepidosieous and Amia (Amiatus).^
It is generally believed that the spiral valve is absent in the more
specialized Teleostei with the possible exceptions of Chirocentrus
and possibly some Salmonidae. In making the latter exception
reference is made to Rathke's work published in 1824.
In discussing the folds of the mucous membrane lining the intestines
of various fishes, Rathke^ mentions crossfolds (Querfalten) and ring-
folds (Ringfalten) as occurring in C/zi^eaa/csa, the grayling {Thymallus),
whitefish {Coregonus), and Salmo trutta. While Rathke evidently
was aware of the presence of these folds, it is clear that he did not
interpret them as spiral valves, for he does not use the term "Spiral-
falten" in this connection as he does in describing the spiral valve of
the Sturgeon. The more exact meaning of the term "vestige" still
remains to be determined; but at present such a discussion seems to
be extraneous. As a matter of fact, however, the writers have found
that in some specimens of "Rainbow" trout {Salmo sp.) there were
six or seven well-developed spiral folds in the posterior end of the
intestine which will be discussed more fully in a future paper.
Of the remaining Teleosts in which there are so-called rudiments
or vestiges of spiral valves, Gymnarchus^ apparently possesses a
slight spiral valve which disappears 43 days after hatching. How-
ever, according to Cuvier and Valenciennes,^ there is a well-developed
spiral valve in Chirocentrus, one of the Physostomi. It is described
as follows: "Upon opening the intestine, one finds a mucous lining
very remarkable for its exceedingly numerous and close-set folds,
which, for the whole extent of the canal, form a series of connivant
valves, or rather an internal lamina wound in a very compact spiral —
une lame sur une spirale tres-seree " The description is sup-
plemented by a drawing which differs from other drawings ^° of the
spiral valve of Chirocentrus. However, it is apparent that Chiro-
« Parker and Haswell, A Text-Book of Zoology, 2: 218. 1897.
'' Heinrich Rathke, Uher den Darmkanal und die Zeugungsorgane der Fische, 62-65,
83. 1824.
* R. Assheton, The Development of Gymnarchus niloticus. The Work of John Samuel
Budgett. Edited by J. Graham Verr. P. 326.
» Cuvier and Valenciennes, Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, 19: 117; also PI. 565
between pp. 312-313. 1846.
1" E. S. Goodrich, A Treatise on Zoology, fig. 77A. Edited by Sir Ray Lankester.
12 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF* SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
centrus hitherto has been the only Teleost known in which there is a
true spiral valve in the adult.
The stomach of Argentina silus is siphon-shaped, somewhat like
that of a salmon, although the posterior end-curve is conical, suggest-
ing a short caecum. The pyloric limb is the shorter, being about
half the length of the cardiac limb.
The duodenum, as it extends forward, curves downward and then
upward. It then passes to one side of the stomach near the median
line. In the specimen from which the drawing was made (Fig. 1),
there were twenty-five pyloric caeca. Just posterior to the stomach,
the intestine bends sharply upward and transversely, then backward,
after which it runs in a straight line to the anal opening. This part
of the intestine is occupied by a well-developed, though simply con-
structed, spiral valve (Fig. lA). The exterior shows eighteen or
twenty transverse septa on a little over two-thirds the length of the
straight part of the intestine, but there are several incomplete whorls
at the anterior end and a few closely folded ones at the posterior end
which do not show externally. Back of the spiral valve, the intestine
is a straight tube.
A specimen ^^ of young Argentina silus 49 mm. long shows a well-
developed spiral valve.
The air bladder is thick-walled and silvery, with a small aperture
in the posterior end which suggests a pneumatic duct connection
but which could not be traced.
SOME SKELETAL CHARACTERISTICS
Cranium.- — ^The most prominent feature in a dorsal view of the
cranium is the large frontal bones which extend backward above the
eyes and nearly to the posterior margin of the cranium, almost com-
pletely covering the parietals. The frontals overlap each other and
they are so closely bound together that it is difficult to separate them.
When they are removed, the thin and rather narrow parietals are
seen lapped underneath these bones. The parietals overlap each
other widely and also cover the supraoccipital except for the supra-
occipital crest and a narrow posterior margin. The supraoccipital
bone is extended foreward into a tongue-shaped process upon which
the parietals rest. This process is connected by a cartilaginous bridge
" In the collection of Mr. W. W. Welsh, U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. Grampus station
10027. August 14, 1912.
JAN. 4, 1922 KENDALL AND CRAWFORD: ARGENTINA SILUS 13
to the sphenotic bones on each side and a narrower ridge extends
upward on the inner side of the alisphenoid. There is a cartilage
extending downward between parts of the opisthotic^- and epiotic
bones.
The parietals extend laterally and cover the large pit on either side
which is bounded by the opisthotics, pterotics, and epiotics. This
pit is filled ordinarily by the foreward extension of the large lateral
muscles of the body. In Salmo, this pit is bounded by the same bones
as in Argentina, but it is not covered over by the parietals. In Os-
merus, the pit is bounded by the pterotic and epiotic, the parietals
not covering it. Neither do the parietals in Osmerus meet in front
of the supraoccipital.
The preoperculum falls almost perpendicularly from its fascet.
Its two limbs form nearly a right angle, the lower limb which extends
forw^ard being as long as the upper, and both are connected at the
angle by a heavy flange which is roughly quadrate in outline. The
metapterygoids are much reduced. The large mesopterygoids extend
downward between the metapterygoids and quadrate bones.
The symplectic extends from the hyomandibular diagonall}^ down-
ward to the top of the lower limb of the preopercle and thence for-
ward. A part of the quadrate bone extends backward on top of
the lower limb of the preopercle and overlaps the forward extension
of the symplectic. The whole apparatus has the appearance of being
drawn dow^nward and forward. There are no teeth on the mesop-
terygoids,^^ maxillaries, or premaxillaries, but there are small, sharp
teeth in single rows on the anterior margin of the vomer and palatines,
and a few on the tongue. The preorbital and three suborbital bones
extend from the premaxillary backward across the cheek. There is
no supplementary maxillary. The premaxillaries are securely fastened
to the vomer by connective tissue which makes these bones immov-
able.
The upper margin of the bones of the lower jaw is strongly arched,
the apex of the arch being at the overlapping of the dentary and artic-
ular bones. The anterior margin of the dentary is concave and tooth-
less, but it is hard and chisel-edged. Between the dentary and artic-
ular bones is a splenial bone, which lies on top of the Meckel's car-
^2 Regan did not recognize the existence of the opisthotic bone in the skull of Argentina.
It may be seen to best advantage after the f rentals and parietals are removed.
^^ There are teeth on the mesopterygoids of Osmerus.
14 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
tilage. The upper and outer surface of this bone forms a broad contact
with the inner surface of the articular. The articular is heavily
reenforced on the inner surface at its articulation with the quadrate.
The angular bone is present.
Vertebrae. — There are thirty-six abdominal and thirty caudal vertebrae
in the vertebral column of our specimens of Argentina silus}"^ In the
first twenty-one abdominal vertebrae, the neurapophyses are not fused
into neural spines and the neural canal is not closed above in the
first twenty. The neural canal is closed in the twenty-first, but there
are still two neural spines. The parapophyses of the abdominal
vertebrae extend outward as rather broad, rhomboidal platforms
which lie nearly horizontal, the ribs being attached to the outer
corners. The parapophyses become progressively narrower poste-
riorly and gradually merge into the haemapophyses of the caudal
vertebrae. There are ribs on all but the last three abdominal para-
pophyses. In Salmo, the first two abdominal vertebrae do not bear
ribs.
Kpipleurals are borne on at least twenty-six of the abdominal
vertebrae. These bones are ankylosed with the neural spines and
may not be separated from them without breaking them apart. The
neurapophyses of these vertebrae are articulated loosely to the centra
and each may be lifted off of the centrum with the attached zyga-
pophysis and epineural. In those vertebrae which do not bear epineu-
rals, the neurapophyses are ankylosed with the centrum. None
of the epipleurals of Salmo or Osmerus are ankylosed with the neura-
pophyses.
In the caudal vertebrae, the haemal arch is closed, but in the first
nine, the haemapophyses extend downward separately, but they are
bridged across by an arch instead of a solid, straight-edged connection,
as in Salmo. They increase in length posteriorly and taper inward
toward each other until, in the tenth, there is a single haemal spine.
The 45th vertebra is shown in figure 2, E. The last undoubted
vertebra is much like that of Osmerus. The caudal stylus is composed
of elements extending from the upper and lower sides of the centrum
whose axis is directed slightly upward. The upper element of the
stylus is the heavier, while the reverse is true in Osmerus. However,
there are three rather indistinct vertebrae whose axes are directed
" The following numbers of vertebrae in Argentina situs are recorded in various ich-
thyological works: Day, 65; Smitt, 65-68; A. Schubberg, 66.
JAN. 4, 1922 KENDALL AND CRAWFORD: ARGENTINA SILUS
15
upward posterior to the stylus, while in Osmerus this is not the case.
(Fig. 2, D.)
Pelvic Bones. — The pelvic bones differ widely from those of other
Isospondyli. There is one distal pterygiophore loosely articulated
to the basipterygium. Above it, there is a large, spheroidal swelling
of hard bone excavated on the inner side to which the first ray is
articulated. From this spheroidal swelling, a slender shaft projects
A
3
V
Fig. 2. A, basipterigium of Argentina silus, X IVal B, basipterigium of Osmenus
mordax, X 3; C, basipterygium of Salmo sehago, X 2; D, caudal vertebrae of
Argentina silus, X 2; E, 45th vertebrae of Argentina silus, showing the arched
connection between the haemopophyses, X 2.
forward along the margin and another shaft, originating at the base
of the first, runs diagonally forward across the basipterygium. The
anterior margin of the basipterygium extends diagonally across the
ends of the two shafts, the whole bone being trapezoidal in shape,
as shown in figure 2, A. In this respect, it differs from the basip-
terygia of other Isospondyli which are roughly triangular in outline.
(Fig. 2, B, C.) A lateral process extends inward to meet a similar
process on the opposite side.
Pectoral Girdle. — There is no postclavical such as that found in
a salmonid. The actinosts are thin, but they are connected by webs
of bone. The mesocoracoid is present and well developed. The
supratemporal is a thin, blade-shaped bone loosely attached to the
upper posterior margin of the supraoccipital. Of the two processes
of the posttemporal bone, the lower which curves downward is the
16 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOI.. 12, NO. 1
longer. It is firmly attached to the base of the exoccipital by tough
connective tissue.
The pectoral girdle is further attached to the skull and vertebrae
by three rod-like ligaments on each side. The upper ligament passes
from the posttemporal to the basioccipital. The second is attached
to the supraclavical and the first vertebra which is ankylosed with
the skull. The third ligament attaches the clavical to the second
vertebra, or the first which is not ankylosed with the skull.
Scales. — The scales of Argentina silus differ greatly from those of
Osmeridae or Salmonidae. In these two families, the scales are smooth
and cycloid, but in Argentina silus they are roughened by small spines,
and they are ctenoid in a manner similar to certain clupeids and
percids (Menhaden and Stizostedion) . The heart-shaped scales as
described by Smitt appear only along the lateral line.
SUMMARY OF CHARACTERISTICS OF Argentinidae as INDICATED BY
Argentina silus
Visceral characteristics
Stomach bluntly caecal; intestine with well-developed spiral valve;
pyloric caeca much less numerous than in Coregonidae, not much
less numerous than in Salmonidae, and much more numerous than
in Osmeridae; air bladder thick and silvery; pneumatic duct, if any,
connected with its posterior end.
Skeletal characteristics
Cranium: — Frontals extend backward overlapping parietals, nearly
covering them. Parietals overlapping on top of supraoccipital ;
opisthotic present; splenial bone present in lower jaw; mesopterygoids
and jaws toothless; no supplementary maxillary.
Vertebrae: — 66 all told. Double neural spines in first 21, canal
being open in first 20. Ribs on all but last three abdominal vertebrae.
Osseous epipleurals on at least 26 abdominal vertebrae; these are
ankylosed to zygapophyses and neural spines ; haemapophyses of
abdominal vertebrae bridged by arch instead of straight-edged piece
as in Salmo; pelvic bones with trapezoidal instead of a triangular
basipterygium.
Pectoral girdle: — With no postclavical process and with thin acti-
nosts which are connected by webs of thin bone.
JAN. 4, 1922 KENDALL AND CRAWFORD: ARGENTINA SILUS 17
Scales: — Ctenoid. Modified along lateral line.
SYNOPSIS AND REVIEW OF THE HISTORY OE THE CLASSIFICATION OP
Argentina
The statement by Linnaeus that there are teeth on the jaws and
tongue^^ {''Denies in maxillis, lingua") is not borne out by Artedi^^
to whom Linnaeus refers, or by subsequent descriptions. Artedi
says teeth on tongue and palate {"Denies in lingua & Palate"). Fur-
thermore, Linnaeus states the branchiostegal rays as 8. Artedi does
not mention the number but all subsequent descriptions state them
as 6. While Linnaeus does not mention the number of pyloric caeca
it is interesting to note that Artedi says that there are 6 or 7. Both
of the foregoing refer to the Mediterranean species Argentina sphyraena.
In their discussion of the genus Argentina, Cuvier and Valenciennes
indefinitely mention numerous caecal appendages^'' and state that
the stomach ends in a cul-de-sac. The genus is included in "Sal-
monoides." Gunther^^ says: Pyloric appendages in moderate num-
bers. He refers the family to Salmonidae, which includes Salmo,
Oncorhynchus, Brachymystax, Luciotrutta, Plecoglossus, Osmerus,
Thaleichthys , Hypomesus, Mallotus, Retropinna, Coregonus, Thymallus,
Argentina, and Microstoma comprised in the first group Salmonina,
in the order named.
In recognizing the subfamily Argentininae of Bonaparte, Gill states
that it differs from Salmoninae by the stomach ending in a blind sac
posteriorly. In this he agrees with Cuvier and Valenciennes. Gill's
original observations, however, were apparently on the smelts and
allied forms. In the subfamily he recognized two genera, Argentina
and Silus, the first with cycloid, the other with spinigerous scales.
Later Gill placed the subfamily Argentininae, comprising Mallotus,
Osmerus and Microstoma, also by implication, other Osmerids and
Argentina, in the family MicrostomidaeJ^ Ten years later, however,
Jordan and Gilbert include Argentina in the family Salmonidae,
recognizing no subfamilies in the description of the genus, thus follow-
ing Gunther.
15 Systema Natura: 315. 1758.
^^ Ichthyologia, 5: 8. 1738.
1' Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, 21: 299. 1898.
'* Catalogue of the Physoslomi, British Museum, p. 202. 1866.
" Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of North America. Smith.Misc. Coll. 1873:11-32.
18 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
Without stating any additional characters, Gill, in 1884, established
the family Argeniinidae}^ By inference the family distinction is
that of the caecal stomach.
Smitt^"^ retains Argentina, as well as the Osmerids, etc., in Sal-
monidae. In his diagnosis of the genus, no character of more than
generic value is mentioned. In expressing the relationship of Ar-
gentina to other forms, however, he says that the odor and few pyloric
appendages point to the Smelt and the stiff but fragile fin rays and
the singular shape of the scales are reminders of the Scopelids. Also
that the peculiarity of the scales suggests the extinct genus Osmer aides,
which, however, in its numerous branchiostegals and dentition was
more like the salmon. Jordan and Evermann accept Argentinidae, of
Gill, comprising the Osmerids, etc., as well. Their characterization
is largely composed of the generic characters of the Osmerids. They
state that the stomach is a blind sac, and the pyloric caeca few or
none. Following the family diagnosis, the statement is made that
there are about ten genera and perhaps a dozen species which are
reduced Salmonidae smaller and in every way feebler than the trout,
but similar to them in all respects except in the form of the stomach.
More recently Regan separated the Osmerids from the Argen-
tinidae making for them the family Osmeridae, the latter differing
from the Argentinidae in having toothed mesoptery golds. Both
the Argentinidae and Osmeridae he supposed to differ from the Sal-
monidae in the absence of opisthotics and upturned vertebrae at the
posterior end of the vertebral column.
Unless the ensemble of previously designated generic characters
of Argentina is considered of family rank, no one prior to Regan
has enunciated a valid family character, and even he was mistaken
concerning the absence of the opisthotic in Argentina. However,
its presence in Argentina and absence from the Osmerids strengthen
the family rank of the latter. The fact that Argentina possesses
opisthotics and vestigial or rudimentary upturned vertebrae, as
previously indicated, might be construed by some to show that the
genus represents an intermediate between the Osmerids and Coregonids,
and even the shape of the stomach as represented by our specimens
of Argentina silus would support this view. However, there are
^^ Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution for the year
188-4 (1885), p. 619.
^^ Scandinavian Fishes, 2:912. 1895.
JAN. 4, 1922 abstracts: geology 19
other characters in which they diverge but in which they should inter-
grade if they represent true intermediates in a direct line of develop-
ment. Most of the characters, as well as those mentioned by Smitt
and others enumerated in the classifications of Argentina, show re-
semblances merely, rather than actual indications of relationship.
And those resemblances represent some of the Salmonoid tendencies
of characters possessed by the generalized ancestral form, Argentina
being a highly specialized terminal product of an early divergent.
The fact that it is a comparatively deep water group, of apparently
wide distribution, possessing an intestinal spiral valve, considered
together with its general structure, would support this view.
ABSTRACTS
Authors of scientific papers are requested to see that abstracts, preferably prepared
and signed by themselves, are forwarded promptly to the editors. The abstracts should
conform in length and general style to those appearing in this issue.
GEOLOGY. — The New Salem lignite field, Morton County, North Dakota.
Eugene T. Hancock. U. S. Geo! Surv. Bull. 726-A. Pp. 39. 1921.
The Nevv Salem field is part of the great lignite region of western North
Dakota and adjacent regions. The history, commercial geography, and
surface features of the area are summarized in two pages. Six pages are
given to the discussion of the geologic section which includes the I,ance and
Fort Union formations. Within the Lance is the Cannonball marine member
which has been the subject of much recent discussion and is named from
the Cannonball River traversing this field. One bed of lignite was found
in the Lance below the Cannonball member, but the valuable beds are con-
fined to the upper 200 to 300 feet of the Fort Union.
The beds in most of this field have a very gentle dip (5 to 10 feet to the
mile) toward the northwest, with minor folds; in the northwest part of the
field they form a gentle syncline. About three pages are given to physical
and chemical data and graphic sections of the coal in considerable detail.
The heating value ranges about 6,000 to 7,000 calories for coal as mined.
Fourteen pages are devoted to a description by townships of the occurrence
of the coal in the seventeen townships examined.
Marcus J. Goldman.
GEOLOGY. — Ground water in the Southington-Granhy Area, Connecticut.
Harold S. Palmer. U. S. Geol. Surv. Water-Supply Paper 466.
Pp. 213. 1921.
This paper is the fourth to appear of a series of detailed reports on the
ground-water resources of selected areas in Connecticut. The first part
is of a general character and treats of the water-bearing formations, occur-
rence and recovery of ground water, and its quality. This is followed by
descriptions of the eighteen towns included in the area, which is partly in
the Central Lowland and partly in the Western Highland of Connecticut.
20 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
Almost everywhere water may be obtained in small quantities from fissures
and joints in the bed rocks which include crystalline rocks of pre-Triassic
age and sandstone, shale, and trap of Triassic age. The till that mantles
the bed rock of the hills and upper valley slopes yields in general satisfactory
domestic supplies. The stratified drift or glacial outwash deposits of the
lowlands yield abundant supplies of water except in the more unfavorable
topographic situations.
Maps show the distribution of the water-bearing formations, the distri-
bution of woodlands, and the locations of the wells and springs referred to
in the tables in the text.
HYDROIyOGY. — Ground water for irrigation near Gage, Ellis County, Okla-
homa. David G. Thompson. U. S. Geol. Surv. Water-Supply Paper
500-B. Pp. 21. 1921.
This paper contains a brief description of the geology and occurrence of
ground water in a part of Ellis County in western Oklahoma. The region
is in the semi-arid belt and in years when the precipitation is deficient crops
may fail. In August, 1918, in a well that was being drilled for oil near Gage
a large flow of artesian water was struck, which it was hoped could be used
for irrigation. Investigation showed that the water comes from the Permian
"Red Beds" and, although in sufficient quantity, it is generally so highly
mineralized that it cannot be used for irrigation. Water of good quality
can be obtained from the Tertiary rocks, but these rocks do not yield enough
water to provide for irrigation. The conclusion is reached that water can
be obtained for irrigation only along the floodplains of the larger streams
in the area. D. G. T.
ORNITHOLOGY.— MMtowcfa ornithologica. IX. H. C. Oberholser.
Proc. Biol. vSoc. Wash. 33: 83-84. 1920.
Preoccupied names of five species of birds cause the following nomen-
clatural changes. The bird commonly known as Dendrocitta sinensis (Latham)
is renamed D. celadina. The name of the wagtail now called Motacilla longi-
cauda Riippell is changed to M. rhadinura. The South African warbler, Eremo-
mela flaviventris (Burchell), is hereafter to be called E. griseoflava perimacha.
The Indian babbling thrush that has long been known as Crateropus griseus
(Gmelin) is renamed Ttirdoides polioplocamus , since in addition to the pre-
occupation of its specific name, the generic name Turdoides Cretzschmar
must supersede Crateropus Swainson. Furthermore, Arrenga cyanea (Hors-
field) will henceforth be known as A. glaucina (Temminck). H. C. O.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Unusual types of apparent geographic variation in color
and of individual variation in size exhibited by Ostinops decumanus.* F.
M. Chapman. Proc. Biol. vSoc. Wash. 33: 25-32. 1920.
Study of Ostinops decumanus shows that there are great individual differ-
ences in size apparently attributable to age, and this involv^es a remarkable
variation not only in the length but in the shape of the wing chiefly in males.
Furthermore, an interesting geographic color variation in which there appear
wholly or partly yellow feathers scattered throughout the plumage of the
body and wing coverts indicates an undescribed race in Bolivia, which is
described as Ostinops decumanus mactdosus. H. C. Oberholser.
JAN. 4, 1922 proceedings: philosophical society 21
ORNITHOLOGY. — Food habits of seven species of American shoal-water
ducks. Douglass C. Mabbott. Bull. U. S. Dept, Agric. 862. Pp.
67, pis. 7. 1920.
The food of Chaulelasmtis streperus to a large extent consists of leaves
and stems of water plants, and, with the exception of that of Mareca americana,
includes a larger percentage of vegetable matter than any other species.
The food of Mareca americana is almost the same as that of the previous
species. As many as 64000 seeds of the spike rush {Eleocharis) have been
noted in a single stomach. The diet of Mareca penelope and Nettion carolinense
is made up principally of water plants and their seeds.
The blue-winged teal (Querquedtda discors) feeds to a large extent on the
seeds and other parts of water plants, although nearly one-third of its food
is animal matter, mostly mollusks, insects, and crustaceans. The food of
Querquedula cyanoptera is very similar.
Vegetable matter comprises about seven-eighths of the diet of Dafila acuta
tzitzihoa, and this is chiefly seeds and other parts of plants, principally those
growing in or near water. Individual birds have been known to consume
for a single meal 28000 seeds of Salicornia amhigua. The remaining portion
of the food of this duck consists of animal matter, such as mollusks, crusta-
ceans, and insects.
The well-known Aix sponsa feeds mostly on the seeds and other parts of
water plants, on acorns, grapes, berries, and the seeds of trees and shrubs.
From a single stomach 10000 seeds of lizard's tail {Saururus cernuus) have
been taken. About one-tenth of its diet is animal matter, chiefly insects
and spiders.
In all, 2888 stomachs of the seven species have been examined, and the
various items of food identified in each species are shown in an extended
table which closes this bulletin. Harry C. Oberholser.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Records of several rare birds from near Washington,
D. C. B. H. Swales. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 33: 181-182. 1920.
The following interesting birds are here recorded from the region about
Washington, D. C., all except one from specimens obtained: Colymbus hol-
boellii, Oceanites oceanicus, Phalaropus fulicarius, Numenius americanus,
Pluvialis dominica dominica, Coragyps urubu urubu, and Aquila chrysaetos.
H. C. Oberholser.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
856th meeting
The 856th meeting of the Philosophical Society of Washington was held
in the Cosmos Club auditorium, Nov. 19, 1921. It was called to order at
8:20 p.m. by President Faris with 49 persons present.
The first paper of the evening, on Dip-needle errors arising from minute
pivot defects, 'was presented by Mr. H. W. Fisk, and was illustrated. It was
discussed by Messrs. L. A. Bauer and L- J. Briggs.
After all compensating reversals of instrument and needle have been made
in determining the magnetic inclination or dip, with a dip circle, there will
22 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
be outstanding characteristic differences between results obtained at the
same station with two or more needles. These are probably due to irregu-
larity of general form of pivot and are eliminated by applying corrections
derived from least square reductions where data are available, or from em-
pirical graphs otherwise.
Occasionally a needle will give a result differing widely from the mean of
the others used at the same station, and a critical study of several cases of
this kind derived from results of field work in widely separated regions,
shows that when not purely accidental, these differences vary with the varying
dip as they would if they were caused by a small particle adhering to the
pivot of the needle. A method was presented of analyzing the results de-
rived from a series of stations at each of which the dip had been obtained by
use of four needles, so that such deviations from the normal value could be
readily recognized. Cases illustrating the results of such analysis were
presented.
Theory was developed by which it was shown that the occasional differ-
ences under investigation could be produced by a very minute particle of
rust, and an equation was given by which the diameter and thickness of
the particle could be determined. By this method it was found that a minute
patch of rust 0.02 millimeter in diameter and 6 X 10~^ millimeters thick,
on the pivot of an ordinary Dover dip needle, would produce an error of
6 minutes in arc in the determination of dip at a place where the total mag-
netic force is 0.55.
An example was given to show that the rust particle might later become
detached so that the needle would behave normally at the value of dip.
Also it was shown that particles of this kind develop very quickly. From
these examples it is concluded that the correction for a dip needle cannot
be relied upon permanently at any one place nor be safely transferred to a
place where the field has a different direction or intensity without a comparison
with such a reliable standard as is afforded by the latest type of portable
earth inductor. In case a dip circle must be used, not less than four needles
should be employed in order to furnish an improved mean, and to better
detect such errors as arise from minute pivot defects. (Author's abstract.)
The second paper on The latitude of Ukiah and the motion of the Pole was
presented by Mr. Walter D. Lambert and was illustrated. It was dis-
cussed by Messrs. I,. H. Adams and L. A. Bauer.
Prof. A. C. lyawson in support of his explanation of certain earth move-
ments in California brings forward the evidence afforded by the astronomic
latitudes at Ukiah, California, one of the stations of the International Latitude
Service. These latitudes show an apparent increase of about 0.01 a year,
which is explained as an actual shifting northward of the crust at Ukiah
relative to its substratum. Ukiah is somewhat outside of the region in which
the existence of large earth movements has been proved by the evidence of
triangulation executed at different dates. The attempt is made in this
paper to see whether the astronomical evidence at Ukiah may properly be
interpreted otherwise than as indicating a creep of the surface strata.
It is found that the other stations of the International Latitude Service
show increases or decreases of the same order of magnitude as that of Ukiah,
the general tendency being toward an increase, a feature especially noticeable
toward the end of the period of observation. At Gaithersburg, Maryland,
the rate of increase even exceeds that at Ukiah. The universality of these
JAN. 4, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 23
changes and their apparent dependence on the longitude of the station make
it natural to seek an explanation in a displacement of the Earth's Pole toward
those stations showing the most rapid increases. It is found that the ob-
served rates of change may be satisfied within reasonable limits by a shifting
of the North Pole toward the Equator along the meridian of 77° West of
Greenwich at the rate of about 0.0050 second a year combined with a cumu-
lative correction to the average declination of the stars used, a correction
varying with the time as the program of stars varies. A brief discussion
is given of the geophysical aspects of such a shifting of the Pole.
Certain incidental results of the investigation are also mentioned, in par-
ticular a rough confirmation of Helmert's work on the figure of the Earth
and its moments of inertia as deduced from gravity observations. Even
a rough confirmation is of value on account of the presence in the observed
values of gravity of systematic influences due to local geological and topo-
graphic conditions, and also on account of the fact that good determinations
of gravity are possible only on one-fourth of the earth's surface, that is, on
land. The results on the moments of inertia, etc., as deduced from the ob-
servations of the International Latitude Service are subject to a correction,
probably small but not yet precisely evaluated, for the mobility of the ocean
waters. (Author's abstract.)
H. H. Kimball, Recording Secretary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS
Mr. A. A. Baker has been appointed geologic aid in the U. S. Geological
Survey, and has been assigned to the Alaskan Division.
Mr. W. N. BramlETTE, assistant geologist of the U. S. Geological Survey,
has been furloughed from the Survey for several months to take up work
with the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Wash-
ington.
Mr. David I. Bushnell, Jr., is preparing for the Bureau of Ethnology
a short account of the Cahokia and other mounds in Illinois, near East St.
Louis, Missouri. A unique feature of his report will be aero-photographs
of the whole group, the first attempt to obtain bird's-eye views of North
American prehistoric mounds from an aeroplane.
Mr. W. O. Clark has resigned from the U. S. Geological Survey, effective
Januar}^ 1, to accept a position as water-supply geologist with a firm in
Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands.
Dr. Arthur L. Day, director of the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie
Institution of Washington, gave an illustrated public lecture, at the Institu-
tion on the evening of November 29, on The eruption of Mount Lassen.
Prof. Charles Moureu of the College de France and president of the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and Prof. A. MayER
of the University of Strasbourg, are in Washington as chemical advisers
to the French delegation to the Conference on Limitation of Armaments.
Mr. Wilson Popenoe, agricultural explorer for the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, returned to Washington in November after a two years'
absence in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.
24 JOURNAL OF THS WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1
Mr. Paul C. vStandlEy of the National Museum left Washington early
in December for a botanical collecting trip to Central America under the
auspices of the Museum, Harvard University, and the New York Botanical
Garden. He will spend several months in Guatemala and Salvador.
Mr. R. W. vStonE has been appointed assistant state geologist of Pennsyl-
vania and has resigned from the U. S. Geological vSurvey, the resignation
to be in effect January 1. His headquarters will be at Harrisburg, Pennsyl-
vania.
Dr. George I^. StreETER, director of the Department of Embryology
of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, gave an illustrated public lecture
at the Institution on the evening of November 22, on Recent studies on the
ear as an organ determining equilibrium.
Dr. H. U. SvERDRUP, physicist of the Roald Amundsen Arctic Expedition,
which recently completed the passage by water north of Siberia, is spending
several months as research assistant at the Department of Terrestrial Mag-
netism, Carnegie Institution of Washington. He is taking part in reduction
of magnetic observations already taken and also preparing for new series
of magnetic, oceanographic, meteorological and other observations to be
taken on the continued expedition across the north Polar Sea to be begun
by the Amundsen party in the spring of 1922.
Secretary CD. Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution has been elected
a corresponding member of the Societe Geologique de Belgique, of Liege,
Belgium.
Mr. Chung Yu Wang, consulting mining engineer and geologist, is one of
the technical councilors with the Chinese delegation to the Conference on
Limitation of Armaments.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 January 19, 1922 No. 2
ZOOLOGY. — The evolution of the animal body} Austin H. Clark,
U. S. National Museum.
In a recent number of this Journal^ I gave a brief synopsis of
the steps in the evolution of animals based upon the progressively
increasing complexity of structure correlated with increased economic
efficiency. The subject was treated in much greater detail in a later
paper. ^
Superposed upon this evolutionary line there is another having
to do with the development of the body as a whole instead of with the
refinement of its internal organization, and to a large extent the two
are quite independent.
All the higher animals are ultimately derived from an attached
animal colony within which the component zooids are more or less
differentiated for the better performance of certain more or less definite
functions, this animal colony being in general comparable to the colony
of phytons known as a flowering plant.
In the sponges the colonial nature of the animal is evident, but
there are no definite organs or tissues, and the mass is imperfectly
or not at all divided. The sponges are thus comparable to certain
of the so-called thallophytes.
The coelenterates have a definite body structure and are funda-
mentally colonial, the colony being produced asexually by budding and
the component individuals usually showing more or less differentiation
into (a) nutritive, {h) reproductive and (c) excretionary ("defensive")
types, the latter bearing numerous cells containing a secretion and also
a coiled tubule. Free living coelenterates occur, and these arise (1)
through the assumption of a free floating existence by the colony as a
whole (siphonophores), or (2) through the partial (medusae of hydroids)
or complete {Aurelia, Trachomedusae, most actinians, etc.) dissociation
of the units of the colony.
^ Received December 16, 1921.
2 This Journal 11: 207-208. May 4, 1921.
3 Bull, de ITnstit. Oceanographique (Monaco), 400: 1-24. 20 septembre, 1921.
25
26 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
The jointed cestodes represent the strobila stage of Aurelia, but
are somewhat more completely unified, the proglottides sharing a
common nervous and excretory system and their detachment being
greatly retarded. The pronounced bilateral symmetry of most ces-
todes and the marked difference in the two sides of the proglottides
seen in others together with certain features connected with the
budding of the scolex suggest their relationship with the graptolites
of which they are possibly the recent representatives.
By a further consolidation and unification of the jointed cestode
body correlated with a loss of the individuality of the component
segments the annelid body type was evolved, and a further consolida-
tion gave rise to the crustaceans, within which group the tendency is
to compress all of the functions of the body within the compass of a
few anterior segments, and the insects, in which there are three small
groups of segments each with a definite function, (a) the head, most
unified, controlling and directing, (b) the thorax, less unified, loco-
motor, and (c) the abdomen, largest and least unified, enclosing the
digestive, reproductive and other organs.
Most crustaceans are more or less, and many are conspicuously,
asymmetrical, while in all there is noticeable a great development of
the dorsal surface as compared with the ventral. Both of these fea-
tures are especially characteristic of certain barnacles, become greatly
accentuated in the Pelmatozoa, and reach an extreme development
in the unattached echinoderms in which the body consists of five
half segments only arranged in a circle and enclosed entirely by the
dorsal surface, the ventral having almost completely disappeared.^
The evolution of solitary animals through the progressive consolida-
tion of a colony correlated with increasing loss of individuality by
the component units can thus be traced from the coelenterates through
the cestodes to the arthropods and echinoderms.
Closely allied to the cestodes are the trematodes, and from them
or from very similar organisms another very different line of develop-
ment has arisen.
The development of the liver fluke, like that of the tapeworm,
in the division of the sporocysts and the subsequent development of
cercariae from sporocysts and rediae is comparable in its essential
features to strobilization, but the budding takes place, so to speak,
within a closed scyphistoma; that is, the sporocysts and rediae undergo
* Smith. Misc. Coll. 27: No. 11, 1-20. July 20, 1921.
JAN. 19, 1922 CLARK: EVOLUTION OF THE ANIMAL BODY 27
a sort of invaginated strobilization, the larvae (cercariae, correspond-
ing to ephyrae) finally escaping by the disintegration of the nurse.
The unsegmented cestodes bear approximately the same relation to
the tapeworms that Lucernaria does to the scyphistoma of Aurelia,
and the turbellarians in their relations to the liver flukes and their
allies are comparable to the Trachomedusae as compared with the
colonial coelenterates ; that is, they are solitary animals ultimately
derived through the dissociation of the units of a primarily colonial type.
Of the remaining acoelomate Kumorphozoa the Polyzoa and Calysso-
zoa are clearly comparable to colonial coelenterates ; the rotifers in their
asexual and direct development suggest a fragmented colony while
the round worms and the Acanthocephala are solitary, like the Tracho-
medusae, some cestodes, and the turbellarians.
All other animals agree in the possession of that structure known as
a coelome. The coelome, which arises by budding from the enteron,
consists of three sections, (a) the perivisceral, forming a body cavity,
(b) the gonadial, and (c) the nephridial. There is thus a curious
correspondence between the three divisions of the coelome and the
three classes into which the polyps of the coelenterates naturally fall,
and this suggests the possibility of coelomate animals having arisen
through a gastruloid structure resembling a redia by the budding off
from the enteron of three units which remained within the gastruloid
and there became differentiated into the three types characteristic of
the externally budded coelenterate polyps, subsequently undergoing
further development.
The priapulids, sipunculids, molluscs, nemerteans, phoronids,
brachiopods, chaetognaths, enteropneusts, tunicates, cephalochordates
and vertebrates would thus be explained as colonial animals derived
from a coelenterate-like colonial type through a process of invagination
by which the additional units were produced within the original
gastruloid ancestor by budding from the enteron instead of externally
as in the coelenterates and polyzoans.
Such an interpretation would account for (1) the entire absence
in these groups of that external segmentation so characteristic of
the cestodes, the annelids, the arthropods and the echinoderms; (2)
the entire absence, except in the enteropneusts and tunicates, which
stand quite apart from the other phyla, of all forms of asexual repro-
duction, this being here represented by internal budding; (3) the al-
most complete absence of parasitism (occurring only in a very few
molluscs and nemerteans), since the transference of the asexual bud-
28 JOURNAL OF the: WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
ding to the interior prevents that proHfic asexual reproduction by
budding and fission, by parthenogenesis, or by polyembryony always
present in those groups in which parasitism is a prevalent condition;
and (4) the almost complete absence of attached forms which, except
for secondarily attached molluscs, are found only among the brachio-
pods and the tunicates.
The annelids, in addition to their dominant external segmentation,
also possess a coelome, but this becomes greatly reduced in the crusta-
ceans and insects. In the echinoderms, however, the curious distortion
leads to a relatively considerable average length for each of the five
segments represented, and with this annelidan feature the coelome
reappears in a highly perfected form.
The development of the annelids indicates a very close relationship
with the molluscs. These two groups thus carry onward the essential,
differences, as well as the essential similarities, between the cestodes
and the trematodfes. Similarly the arthropods and the echinoderms
appear to be structurally parallel to the nemerteans, phoronids,
brachiopods and chaetognaths, the former representing the cestode-
annelid, the latter the trematode-priapulid-sipunculid-moUusc type.
The enteropneusts, the tunicates, the cephalochodates {Amphioxus,
etc.) and the vertebrates are quite unrepresented in the externally
segmented line, which culminates in the arthropods and echinoderms.
They differ from all other animals in the possession of gill slits or pores.
These structures represent the final step in the organization and
centralization of the respiratory function and its connection with the
endoderm. This is obviously a minor structural detail, presumably
of late origin, and as such it suggests that while the other major
animal types probably all appeared almost or quite simultaneously
the evolution of the forms with gill apertures was considerably delayed.
GEOPHYSICS. — The latitude of Ukiah and the motion of the pole.'^
Walter D. Lambert, U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
In January, 1921, Professor A. C. Lawson of the University of
California published an article on earth movements in California.^
1 Presented before the Philosophical Society of Washington, November 19, 1921. Re-
ceived December 7, 1921. The substance of this paper was also presented at a meeting
of the American Astronomical Society at Swarthmore, Pa., December 29, 1921. This
paper is based on a longer article by the author entitled An investigation of the latitude of
Ukiah, California, and of the motion of the Pole, which will appear as a Special Publication
of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
^ The mobility of the Coast Ranges of California, an exploitation of the elastic rebound
theory. Univ. Calif. Publ., Bull. Dept. Geol. 12: No. 7. Jan. 11, 1921.
JAN. 19, 1922 LAMBERT: LATITUDE OP UKIAH 29
His thesis is that there are slow movements of the surface as a result
of stresses arising from a subcrustal flow that carries the surface with it.
In time these stresses increase to the breaking point; there is then
rupture with attendant seismic shocks and a rebound toward the
original position.
In support of this thesis Professor Lawson adduces the triangulation
executed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey^ in California at various
times before the earthquake of 1906 and during the months immedi-
ately following. He adduces also the observed astronomic latitudes
at the Ukiah latitude station, one of the stations of the International
Latitude Service maintained for the study of the variation of latitude
and the motion of the Pole. It should be stated that Ukiah lies outside
of the area that was treated as potentially movable in the discussion
of the triangulation. The line of greatest disturbance during this
earthquake runs along the San Andreas fault ; the nearest point of this
fault is some 30 miles from Ukiah and not far from the point where the
fault itself runs out to sea in a northwesterly direction.
It is not the purpose of this paper to interpret the evidence from the
triangulation, but solely to consider the meaning of the astronomic
latitudes at Ukiah, which constitute a problem quite independent of the
problem presented by the triangulation.
The latitude of Ukiah appears to be increasing with some regularity
at a rate not much smaller than 0.01 second per year, that is, a dis-
placement of almost 1 foot or 30 cm. per year. This deduction was
made by Professor Lawson from curves given in an article by Sir
Frank Dyson, ^ Astronomer Royal of England. It should be said that
the curves are used by Dyson for quite a different purpose, and that
this increase in latitude is not mentioned by him, nor would its exis-
tence affect his results to any perceptible degree. It should be said on
the other hand that an apparent increase of this sort is very evident
from a mere inspection of the curve for Ukiah, which is shown in figure 1 .
As is well known, the two principal periodic terms in the expression
for the variation of latitude have periods of one year and of about 14
months. The curve shows the observed variation of latitude with the
effect of the annual term removed by computation. The annual term
was deduced by harmonic analysis from the observed latitudes at
Ukiah only and is therefore independent of any assumption as to the
^ J. F. Hayford and A. L. Baldwin, The earth movements in the California earthquake of
1906. U. S. Coast and Geod. Surv. Ann. Rept. 1907, App. 4.
* F. W. Dyson. Month. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc. 78: 452. 1918.
30 JOURNAL OP THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
motion of the Pole other than the mere lengths of the periods concerned.
If the variation of latitude conformed to the simplifying assumptions
that we often make, the curve would be a simple sine curve with
constant amplitude and with its phase changing at a uniform rate.
There is, however, a marked increase in the amplitude although the
phase change is nearly uniform. The ordinate represents, not the
observed latitude itself, but the difference, A<^, between the observed
latitude and an arbitrary but fixed initial latitude. The initial latitude
is such that near the beginning of the period this conventional zero
line of A(j) coincides very nearly with the true zero line, or line running
midway between the points of maximum and minimum. Towards
the end of the period the curve has shifted so much that most of it
lies above the conventional zero line. The angle between the true zero
line and the conventional zero line represents the rate of increase of the
mean latitude, that is, of the latitude freed from the effects of all known
periodic terms. This slope or rate Professor Lawson determined by a
graphic adjustment ; he drew a straight line passing as near as possible
Fig. 1. The latitude of Ukiah, California, from Dyson's curves, with lines drawn by Lawson
to show the progressive increase of latitude.
to the maxima of the curve and a similar line for the minima, and then
drew a line bisecting the angle between the two lines just found. This
bisector may be taken as representing the true zero line.
The slope of this true zero line referred to the conventional one is,
as found by Professor Lawson, 0'^0094 or 0.29 meter a year. His
method does not use all the information afforded by the curve, but
merely the maxima and minima; the lines drawn to fit these are
necessarily affected by personal idiosyncrasies. The following method
is free from these objections.
The curve supposedly contains only the effect of the 14-month
component and of a possible progressive shifting of the zero line.
The former effect will be eliminated from the mean of 14 successive
calendar months,^ leaving in the mean only the progressive shift
^ The exact period is 432.5 days rather than 14 calendar months (426 days), but the error
arising from the substitution of one period for the other is negligible.
JAN. 19, 1922
LAMBERT : LATITUDE OP URIAH
31
of the zero. Table 1 shows the result of taking these means. They
are also shown graphically in figure 2.
Instead of adjusting a straight line to the means by eye we may do
it by the method of least squares. The observation equations would
then be written in the form
A(f) = x -\- yt,
TABLE 1. — Mean Value op A<l> for Ukiah
Middle of 14-month
Mean
Middle of 14-month
Mean
period
A(j>
period
A0
1900, Aug. 1
+0".001
1908, Oct. 1
+0".047
1901, Oct. 1
-0 .040
1909, Dec. 1
+0 .058
1902, Dec. 1
+0 .001
1911, Feb. 1
+0 .070
1904, Feb. 1
+0 .047
1912, Apr. 1
+0 .063
1905, Apr. 1
+0 .054
1913, Jun. 1
+0 .055
1906, Jun. 1
4-0 .068
1914, Aug. 1
+0 .118
1907, Aug. 1
+0 .066
1915, Oct. 1
+0 .152
+.1.=^
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Fig. 2. The latitude of Ukiah, California, means by 14-month periods and line showing adjusted
rate of increase; derived from Dyson's curves.
where t is the time reckoned from some convenient epoch, x is the
adjusted value of A^ at the epoch, y is the adjusted rate of change of
the mean latitude, and the A<^ represents one of the values of A<^ in
the table. The result of the adjustment gives for the equation of the
32 JOURNAI, Olf THS WASHINGTON ACADKMY OS SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
true zero line
A4>= +0".0590 + 0".0081/,
where t is the time in years reckoned from the epoch, Oct. 1, 1908.
This line is the one shown in figure 2. The slope +0".0081, with a
probable error =i=0".0010 per year, is somewhat smaller than the
+0".0094 found by Professor Lawson but still quite large enough to be
of interest, and if taken at its face value, it is large enough to render
probable Professor Lawson's thesis of a northward movement of the
superficial crust at Ukiah.
Before reaching definite conclusions in the matter it is desirable to
see what is happening at the other stations of the International Lati-
tude Service. These stations all use the same program of stars and
any errors in the declinations used affect all stations alike except
insofar as bad weather may cause the stars observed to be different
at the different stations. It is to be supposed, however, that the
difference in the effect at different stations of errors in declination
due to the different stars actually used may be considered as causing
accidental errors in the result rather than systematic ones. The
observatories of the Latitude Service are all close to the paralleP of
39° 8'; they are: Mizusawa in Japan, still running; Tschardjui (or as
more simply spelled Charjui) in Russian Turkestan, closed at the end
of 1914 ; Carloforte on a little island off the larger island of Sardinia, still
running; Gaithersburg, Maryland, closed at the end of 1914; Cincin-
nati, Ohio, work for the International Latitude Service discontinued
at the end of 1915 ; Ukiah, California, still running.
It was the original intention to have all the observatories constructed
on exactly the same plan and equipped with zenith telescopes of the
same pattern. It proved impracticable, however, to live up to this
plan and the instruments at Tschardjui and Cincinnati are smaller
than those at the other stations. This fact and perhaps also the
vagaries of their climates, which are more markedly continental in
character at these stations than at the other four, have caused the
probable errors of the results from Cincinnati and Tschardjui to be
relatively large. Furthermore, the Tschardjui results are complicated
by the removal of the observatory in 1909 to a new location, a removal
forced by the wanderings of the Amu Darya River, the ancient Oxus.
The old site was threatened and finally inundated and the latitude
connection between the old and new sites is rather weak. All these
8 For longitudes see table 2 on p. 36
JAN. 19, 1922 LAMBERT: LATITUDE) OF UKIAH 33
circumstances combined have made the results at Tschardjui relatively
so inaccurate that they have very little weight in the final results of this
discussion. To a less degree the same holds good of Cincinnati.
The observations at the four remaining stations are about equal in
quality.
Sir Frank Dyson did not give curves like that at Ukiah for all the
six stations and there appeared to be some uncertainty about the
declinations used in the latter part of the period that he treats, a matter
important for the present purpose but not very important for his
purpose, so it was decided to start afresh and to derive curves for all
six stations, utilizing all the observed latitudes available; these ex-
tended from 1900 through 1917, a year beyond the time covered by
Dyson. The new curves were based on the definitive latitudes of the
International Latitude Service'^ and the provisional results published
from time to time in the Astronomische Nachrichten.^ These results
are all on a common declination system, that of Vol. 3 of the Resultate,
not the ideal system perhaps, but one consistent with itself. On ac-
count of the precession some of the stars necessarily drop out of a star
program as time goes on. In the provisional results these discontinued
stars have not been replaced by others. The provisional results
therefore depend on a smaller number of stars, thus reducing the weight
of the results to about Ve oi that of the definitive ones.
The latitudes of the several stations were plotted, curves were
drawn to smooth out the worst roughnesses in the plotted values, and
these curves were analyzed harmonically to obtain the amplitudes
and epochs of both the annual and the 14-month components. Each
station was treated by itself. Some refinements not found in all
harmonic analyses were introduced and seemed to justify their intro-
duction by the better agreement thus obtained between the various
determinations of the same quantity. The details will be given in my
longer publication on the subject.
By taking out the annual term from the curve of observed latitudes
it would have been possible to draw curves like Dyson's, containing,
presumably, only the effects of the 14-month term and of a possible
shift in the true zero line. At least, if other effects were present,
they would be treated as accidental errors. By reading these new
" Zentralbureau der Internationalen Erdmessung (Berlin). Resultate des Internationalen
Breitendienstes. 3: 1909. 5: 1916.
»Astr. Nachr. 198: No. 4749. 1914. 201: No. 4802. 1915. 203: No. 4855. 1916.
206: No. 4908. 1917. 208: No. 4969. 1918.
34 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
curves at uniform intervals and taking the mean of the readings over
a period of 14 months, the effect of the 14-month term would be made to
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;".:i
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:-.:
-:-
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. :..
;:iJi
1900
1805
1910
1915
Fig. 3. The latitude of Tschardjui, Russian Turkestan: means by calendar years and lines
showing adjusted rates of change; derived from the latitudes of the International
Latitude Service.
disappear from the mean, leaving only the effects of a shifting of the
zero line, that is, of a progressive change in the mean latitude.
JAN. 19, 1922
I^AMBHRT: LATITUDE OF UKIAH
35
It would be equally legitimate to interchange the processes by which
the two periodic portions of the latitude variation were eliminated.
Instead of taking out the effect of the annual portion by computing
from an assumed expression for it in the form of an harmonic term,
we could take out the 14-month component by assuming it to be ex-
pressed by a harmonic term and computing the necessary values.
The remaining periodic portion of the variation would be the annual
portion and could be eliminated by taking means over the period of
a year. These means, being free from the effects of periodic terms,
should bring to light the progressive variation.
Both methods were employed and the two rates thus obtained for
the progressive change of latitude at a station agreed well in all cases.
There appeared to be some reason for thinking that the rate of change
might be different for the later years ; with this in mind the experiment
ass
1900
1905
1910
191S
Fig. 4. The latitude of Mizusawa, Japan ; means by calendar years and lines showing adjusted
rates of change; derived from the latitudes of the International Latitude Service.
was tried of fitting two straight lines to the mean latitudes instead of
only a single line, the two lines to show the same latitude at a pre-
determined epoch. This epoch was taken not far from the end of
1911. The considerations governing this choice were in part the
general appearance of the plotted mean latitudes and in part the change
in the star program at the end of 1911 already referred to and due to
the dropping of certain stars.
36 JOURNAL OF THB WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
The closeness of the fit of the two lines or of the single lines may be
judged from figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 shows the results for Tschardjui,
the means being taken by calendar years. It has been said that this
station has been subject to great irregularities and this appears plainly
from the diagram. The only thing that clearly appears is a tendency
for latitudes to increase very sharply towards the end of the period.
Figure 4 shows Mizusawa, perhaps the most regular station, though
the other stations except Tschardjui and Cincinnati are not greatly
inferior to it. Even the most regular of stations shows considerable
departure from a perfectly uniform progressive increase, although the
irregularity is somewhat exaggerated to the eye by the large vertical
scale used for the latitudes. The probable error of the mean of a single
year or of a single 14-month period is about ±0".010 at Mizusawa as
determined from the residuals arising from attempting to fit the two
straight lines to the successive means. The probable error is rather
larger when only a single line is used, a fact which tends to prove the
reality of the assumed change in rate. Similar results hold for the
other stations except Tschardjui and Cincinnati, the probable errors
being about ±0".015 for the two lines and about ±0".018 for one line.
The mean rates of increase are shown in table 2. They represent
the mean results of the two methods of procedure already referred to,
mean latitudes being taken by calendar years and by 14-month periods.
The fitting of the straight lines to the means was done by the method
of least squares.
TABLE 2. — Mean Annual Rates op Change "op Latitude
Observations Annual rates of change
Station Longitude end with year 1900-11 1912-end 1900-end
Mizusawa, Japan 141° 08' E .. -0".0025 +0".0096 +0".0008
Tschardjui, Russian Turkes-
tan 63 29 E 1914 +0".0036 +0".0597 -1-0".0115
Carloforte, Sardinia 8 19 E .. +0 .0002 +0 .0182 +0 .0053
Gaithersburg, Maryland.... 77 12 W 1914 +0.0087 +0.0206 +0.0105
Cincinnati, Ohio 84 25 W 1915 +0 .0029 +0 .0404 +0 .0099
Ukiah, California 123 13 W .. +0.0075 +0.0194 +0.0106
The first two columns under the general heading "Annual rates of
change" give the slopes or rates of change of latitude when two lines
are used. The last column gives the slope when only one line is used.
The rate of change may vary with the period of time covered so that
only in the first column are the rates for all stations strictly comparable
with one another. In the second and third columns the rates of
Mizusawa, Carloforte, and Ukiah are comparable in this way. The
JAN. 19, 1922 LAMBERT: LATITUDE OF UKIAH 37
rates in the second column, particularly the rates of stations now dis-
continued, depend on only a few mean latitudes, and offer only an
insecure basis for conclusions.
The rates of change at Ukiah are not very different from the rates
found from Dyson's curves, namely, +0".0094 by Lawson and
+0".0081 by the author.^ The striking fact, however, is that a rate
of this size is no longer a solitary phenomenon. There are many rates
of this order of magnitude and with one exception all rates are positive.
Before seeking an explanation I think it will be wise to rule out the
results for Tschardjui altogether. If results were weighted according
to their probable errors, the Tschardjui results would get weights only
from 1/10 to 1/20 as large as those of other stations, and would thus
have little effect on our final conclusions.
We might explain the positive rates at all stations by a northward
creep of the surface strata, as Professor Lawson has done for Ukiah,
but such an explanation is scarcely satisfactory when it must be made
to apply to so many stations. A better partial explanation is decli-
nations. The so-called observed latitudes are also computed ones to a
certain extent, and errors in the declinations of the stars used appear
with practically full effect in the so-called observed latitudes. It
would appear from the table as if the average declinations became
increasingly erroneous with the lapse of time; an error of this kind
would naturally be looked for in the adopted values of the proper
motions. But even an error in the proper motions and the consequent
declinations does not explain all the rates in the table. An error in
the star places would affect all stations alike, except insofar as bad
weather might cause the stars actually observed to vary from station
to station. It is clear that latitudes are increasing much faster on the
American continent than elsewhere, and for a while in the opposite
quarter of the world, as at Mizusawa from 1900 to 1911, they were
actually decreasing. An obvious explanation of an increase in latitude
on one side of the earth accompanied by a decrease in the other is a
shifting of the Pole.
I believe that the explanation of the changes of latitude set forth in
the table will be found in a shifting of the Pole combined with an in-
creasing error in the declinations. This hypothesis may be tested by
a least-square adjustment. Let u and v denote the components
^ The number in the table most nearly corresponding to the result for Ukiah found from
Dyson's curves is the -f0".0106 in the last column. The difference is probably due in great
part to the declination system used. See below.
38 JOURNAL OF TH© WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
of the assumed annual shift of the North Pole towards the Equator
along the meridians of Greenwich and of 90 ° W, respectively ; let w
denote the annual increase in latitude common to all stations and due
to erroneous declinations; then the observation equations have the
form
u cos \ -{- V sin \ -{- w = observed annual rate,
where X is the west longitude of the station in question.
Various least-square solutions were tried with different weights for
the several stations and different sets of annual rates. Full details
will be given in the longer publication. The results were fairly con-
sistent and the adopted result was a motion of the North Pole southward
along the meridian of 77° West of Greenwich at a rate of about 0".0050
a year. The values of w depend on the star program and represent
mean cumulative corrections to the declinations for the period
covered; they might therefore be expected to dififer according to the
set of rates used, even if the components of the polar motion remained
constant. This was found to be the case, the values of w ranging from
+0".0013to+0".0050.
This then is the interpretation I would offer of the apparent increase
in latitude at Ukiah; cumulative errors in the declinations combined
with a shifting of the North Pole towards the American continent.
There might be also the surface creep which Professor Lawson offers
as the all-sufficient explanation, but I believe that if this creep
exists, its contribution to the increase in latitude is quite subordinate
to the contributions of the other causes.
The suggestion of a displacement of the Pole towards the American
continent has been made before. Wanach,^° the successor to Albrecht
in the work of the International Latitude Service, found from the
observations of the Service from 1900 to 1911, inclusive, a displacement
of the North Pole at the rate of not more than 0".0030 a year and in
the general direction of Newfoundland, say along the meridian of
56 ° West. The period of time covered is different, likewise the method
of treatment and the weights assigned to Tschardjui and Cincinnati.
The differences doubtless explain the differences in the results, differ-
ences not particularly large in view of the difficulties of the subject.
It is evident that the burden of proof for this explanation of the
change of latitude at Ukiah by a shifting of the Pole rests chiefly on the
results at Gaithersburg, for Ukiah is suspected of being on unstable
" B. Wanach. ResuUate des Internationalen Breitendienstes 5: 219. 1916.
JAN. 19, 1922 LAMBERT: LATITUDE OF UKIAH 39
ground and Cincinnati is subject to a large probable error. A little
consideration will show, however, that an explanation of the kind
supposed that is numerically adapted to fit Gaithersburg as well as the
other stations except Ukiah must be a passable fit for Ukiah also.
The deduced shifting of the Pole must be considered as limited to the
period discussed, the years 1900-1917, inclusive. No examination has
been made of earlier records to see whether such a shifting might have
taken place in the past, and until the causes of such a shifting have
been found it is unwise to predict the future. In regard to the past,
it is interesting to note that a polar shifting of this sort and about
this magnitude might have gone on during the whole historical period
without changing the climate perceptibly. If we put the historical
period at 10,000 years in round numbers, the maximum change of
latitude during that time is less than a mile. It might perhaps be
possible for a change of this particular sort, namely along the meridian
of 77 ° West, to have gone on since the beginning of modern astronomy
of precision — ^say since Bessel's time — ^without being noticed, simply
because the longest series of accurate records are in central or western
Europe, regions which are on meridians nearly at right angles to the
line of displacement and which therefore undergo a relatively small
change of latitude.
It is of interest to consider the possible causes for such a displacement
of the Pole. A little calculation shows that the shifting of mass due
to erosion and deposition of all sorts, even on the most favorable
hypotheses, is quite insufficient to produce a shifting of 0".0050 a year
in the direction of the earth's axis within its mass. Theories postu-
lating large departures of the Pole from its present position have been
much in favor with certain geologists but seem fantastic to mathema-
ticians and astronomers. An interesting criticism of these theories
is to be found in an article by the late Professor Barrell.^^ The classic
paper on this subject from the mathematical point of view is by
Darwin. ^2 ^ shifting of the Pole may be brought about by wide-
spread though slight elevations and subsidences of the Earth's crust.
On the most favorable assumption that seemed in any way plausible
from a geological point of view, Darwin found a possible displacement
of from 1° to 3° in any one geological period. The term "geological
period" is conveniently vague as a unit of time, but if we take a geolog-
^^ J. Barrell. The status of the hypothesis of polar wanderings. Science 40: 333. 1914.
'^ G. H. Darwin. On the influence of geological changes on the Earth's axis of rotation,
Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond. I. 167: 271. 1877. Or Scientific Papers 3: 1.
40 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
ical period as meaning a million years/^ which corresponds to one
estimate of the duration of the entire glacial epoch, including all the
various periods of glaciation and the interglacial periods between them,
then a shift of 0". 0050 a year would mean a change of 1 ° 23' in the posi-
tion of the Poles during the glacial epoch, a quantity within Darwin's
limits.
Now the fact that the shifting of the North Pole towards the Amer-
ican continent appears to have continued for the 18 years from 1900 to
1917, inclusive, does not oblige us to suppose that it has continued in the
past or will continue in the future. Indeed, very recent observations
at Ukiah would indicate, if taken at their face value, that the mean
latitude of Ukiah is decreasing, that is, that the Pole is moving back
again. No satisfactory conclusions can be reached, however, until the
observations at the other latitude stations become available. There is
some evidence of certain periodic effects in the variation of latitude
other than those represented by the annual and the 14-month terms,
effects whose periods are three years or more and which may be
connected with the periods of the still obscure meteorological and
climatic cycles. The shifting of the Pole may represent chiefly the
combined effect of meteorological causes running their courses in
periods of a few years or a few decades and be due only in very small
part to elevations or subsidences of the crust.
Some of the by-products of the investigation may now be men-
tioned. The calculations necessary to derive the foregoing conclusions
were quite extensive and made it possible to obtain with but little
additional labor other results of interest in connection with the general
problem of the variation of latitude. Fuller details will be given in
the larger publication already referred to.
An examination was made with a view to detecting terms in the
variation with periods of three and six years. Terms of these periods
in the distribution of barometric pressure over the earth were found
by Angenheister;^^ the magnitudes of the fluctuations of pressure
appeared to be probably sufficient to affect the motion of the Pole
perceptibly. Harmonic constants were deduced from the observations
13 Cited by M. P. Rudzki in his Physik der Erde (Leipzig, 1911), p. 552, as the estimate
of Penck and Bruckner for the duration of the glacial epoch.
1* G. Angenheister. tjher die dreijdhrige Lujtdrnckschwayikung und ihren Zusamtnen-
hang mit Polschwankungen. Nachr. kon. Ges. Wiss. Gottingen, Math-phys. Kl. 1914: 1.
The paper is described as a preliminary communication but nothing further from Angen-
heister on the subject has come to the author's attention.
JAN. 19, 1922 LAMBERT: LATITUDE OF UKIAH 41
for terms of these periods, but the amplitudes and epochs thus found
differed considerably according to stations used and the period of time
covered by the observations. Probably there are perceptible terms of
this sort, but the mathematical expressions for them are still quite
uncertain.
Expressions in harmonic form were found for the annual portion of
the polar motion and of the Kimura term. For corresponding periods
of time these expressions were in excellent agreement with similar
expressions deduced by the International Latitude Service, although
the methods of deduction were quite different.
Similar expressions in harmonic form were found for the 14-month
portion of the motion of the Pole. In deducing these terms the motion
of the pole of rotation was not assumed to be uniform and circular, as
it would be if changes in position of the pole of figure were strictly
periodic and if the two principal equatorial moments of inertia of the
Earth were equal. If, however, the assumption of uniform circular
motion is made in this discussion, as it is in the work of the Inter-
national Latitude Service, the expressions for the 14-month motion of
the Pole agree well with the corresponding ones deduced by the Lati-
tude Service, in spite of the difference in methods. Without the as-
sumption of circular motion the observations always give an elliptical
14-month path for the Pole, but one so nearl}' circular that the exact
direction of its major axis is not very certain. The major axis should
coincide in direction with the meridian of the larger principal equatorial
moment of inertia^'' if there is any perceptible difference in the principal
equatorial moments, and it is for this reason that it is of interest to
determine the position of the major axis of the ellipse of polar motion.
Wanach of the International Service speaks discouragingly of the
results obtained, ^^ but in the present investigation the results for
different six-year periods show a fair degree of agreement, perhaps
1^ This statement is subject to a correction for the effect of the yielding of the ocean waters
to the forces arising from a change in position of the Pole. If the ocean covered the Earth,
its yielding would prolong the period of the latitude variation as compared with that of an
otherwise similar earth without an ocean, but the position of the major axis of the ellipse of
polar motion would be the same for both earths. On account of the unsymmetrical dis-
tribution of land and water on the actual Earth the position of the axis of the ellipse of polar
motion is affected, but the amount of the correction appears not to be sufficient to change the
general character of the observed results. The subject has been investigated by A. Brill
in his doctor's thesis entitled Uber die Elastizitdt der Erde (Gottingen, 1908). His conclus-
ions do not appear to be in a form immediately applicable to the problem in hand. The
question is being further investigated.
1^ ResuUate des InternaUonalen Breitendienstes. 5: 220, footnote.
42 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
on account of the refinements in harmonic analysis already referred to.
In table 3 X is the west longitude of the meridian along which the
major axis lies.
TABLE 3. — Direction of the Major Axis of the Elwpse of Polar Motion (432.5
Day Period)
Years, inclusive
Number of stations
Direction of major axis
X
1900-05
6
59° W
1906-11
6
90 W
1912-17
3
117 W
1910-15
4
75 W
1900-11
6
81 W
1900-17
3
110 W
The first three lines give results for each of the three six-year periods^^
into which the time covered by the observations is divided. The
fourth line represents a series cutting across two other series and serves
as a check. Other check results, not given here, were obtained and
were all to the same general effect. The last two lines are mean
results for the periods specified. A mean for the result of the entire
discussion might be taken, somewhat arbitrarily perhaps, as 90°
West. Helmert^^ has determined the same quantity from gravity
observations, his result being 107 ° West. Since gravity can at present
be observed satisfactorily only on land, that is, on one-fourth only of
the Earth's surface, and since the influence on gravity of local topo-
graphic and geologic conditions is considerable, it is satisfactory to
have even a rough agreement of the results from the two methods.
The amount of the difference between the principal equatorial
moments, A and B, may be specified by giving the ratio
{B-A)^[C-y2{A+B)],
the letter C denoting the moment of inertia about the axis of rotation.
Helmert finds for this ratio 1/46. The same ratio may be deduced
from the eccentricity of the ellipse of polar motion ; the results of this
investigation point to a value of the same order of magnitude but
apparently somewhat larger, perhaps 1/30 or 1/20, ratios which would
follow from some of the gravity formulas which Helmert derives only
to reject in favor of the formula leading to 1/46. From the ratio
(B—A^[C — }4{A-\-B)] we may deduce the difference between the
greatest equatorial radius of the Earth and the least. For Helmert's
ratio 1/46 this difference is 230 meters; for larger or smaller ratios the
difference between the equatorial radii varies proportionally.
1^ The six-year length of series is particularly suitable for harmonic analysis.
^^ F. R. Helmert. Neue Formeln fiir den Verlauf der Schwerkraft ini Meeresniveau
beim Festlande. Sitz.-Ber. kon. preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1915: 676.
JAN. 19, 1922 abstracts: ornithology 43
Since this ratio, like the direction of the major axis, is subject to a
correction for the yielding of the ocean waters under the centrifugal
force arising from the variation of latitude itself, no precise results
are stated in this connection as the definitive results of the investiga-
tion until this correction can be investigated and applied. The
important points are (1) that, contrary to Wanach's implied opinion,
there is some prospect of getting information regarding the moments
of inertia and the figure of the Earth out of the observations of the
variation of latitude; and (2) that the results so far obtained confirm
in a general way the results of Helmert from gravity observations.
The principal results of this investigation may be summed up as the
prospect just mentioned of getting data on the figure of the Earth out
of the latitude observations, and the conclusion previously discussed
that the increase in latitude at Ukiah is due partly to the declinations
used, being to that extent unreal, and partly due to a shifting of the
North Pole towards the American continent.
ABSTRACTS
Authors of scientific papers are requested to see that abstracts preferably prepared,
and signed by themselves, are forwarded promptly to the editors. The abstracts should
conform in length and general style to these appearing in this issue.
OCEANOGRAPHY. — Tidal observations off the entrance to Delaware Bay.
H. A. Marmer. Journ. Franklin Inst. 191: 819-821. 1921.
This paper discusses the results of a forty-hour series of offshore tidal
observations made on Five Fathom Bank, about 18 nautical miles off the
entrance to Delaware Bay, by a hydrographic party of the Coast and Geodetic
Survey. Special interest attaches to this series of observations, because of its
being made at some distance from the coast and also because of the simple
and inexpensive tide gauge used. At present our knowledge of the time and
range of the tide away from the coast is extremely meager, since tidal observa-
tions have been confined almost wholly to the immediate vicinity of the coast.
A description of the tide gauge inprovised for observing the height of the
tide is described and the results compared with simultaneous tidal observations
at Breakwater Harbor, Delaware, about 23 miles west of Five Fathom Bank.
The cotidal hour as determined from these observations agrees well with the
cotidal lines for this region constructed by Harris from theoretical consider-
ations. H. A. M.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Washington region [February and March, ig2o]. H. C.
Oberholser. Bird Lore 22: 167. 1920.
Notwithstanding a backward spring, birds appeared about Washington
in about their usual numbers and at about their usual time during February
and March, 1920. The European Starling {Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris) has
become thoroughly established in the vicinity of Washington. Without
44 JOURNAL OF THB WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIFNCFS VOL. 12, NO. 2
doubt the outstanding feature of interest was the astonishing number of
ducks that frequented the Potomac River. The species most abundant were
Marila marila, Marila affinis, Anas ruhripes, and Glaucionetta dangula
americana. Flocks of geese, Branta canadensis canadensis, and swans,
Olor cohinibianus, were also present. H. C. O.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Birds of the Clear Creek District, Colorado. F. C.
Lincoln. Auk 37: 607. 1920.
Systematic investigations in the region about Clear Creek near Denver,
Colorado, during a period of five years have resulted in a list of 182 birds,
including a number of rare species. ' H. C. Oberholser.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Relative abundance of wild ducks at Delavan, Wisconsin.
N. HoLLisTER. Auk 37: 367-371. 1920.
Records of ducks obtained at Delavan, Wisconsin, during the years 1892
to 1899 give an interesting indication of the relative abundance of species
during that period. A list is given showing the species observed in the order
of their abundance. H. C. OberholsER.
ORNITHOLOGY. — Four new birds from the Philippines and Greater Sunda
Islands. J. H. Riley. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 33: 55-58. 1920.
The following subspecies of East Indian birds are described: Anthreptes
malacensis paraguae, from Palawan, Philippine Islands, A. m. bornensis, from
British North Borneo; Enodes erythrophrys centralis, from Celebes; and
Munia punctulata particeps, from Celebes. H. C. Oberholser.
GEOLOGY. — Oil prospects in Washington County, Utah. Harvey BasslER
and John B. Reeside, Jr. U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 726-C. Pp. 87-107.
1921.
Washington County, in extreme southwestern Utah, is drained by Virgin
River, one of the larger tributaries of the Colorado. Exploratory drilling
for oil has not been extensive in Washington County. Drilling near Virgin
City resulted in several small wells as early as 1907.
The rocks of the region range in age from Mississippian to Tertiary, but
those of greatest importance as possible sources of oil are the older rocks,
beneath what is known as the Shinarump conglomerate. These older rocks
are included in the Moenkopi formation, the Kaibab limestone, and a sand-
stone formation which represents the Coconino sandstone and Supai formation
of the Grand Canyon area.
The region may be considered structurally as two districts separated
by the Hurricane fault, which runs north and south on a line 15 miles east
of St. George. East of the fault the rocks are relatively little disturbed.
Some smaller faults and some low anticlines are present, but as a whole the
district is one of low monoclinal dips without any large modifications. West
of the Hurricane fault folds and smaller faults of various sizes have so greatly
changed the original attitude of the rocks that the district is structurally
complex in comparison with that east of the fault.
Nothing more was done in the field near Virgin City east of the Hurricane
fault until 1918, when the three producing wells were cleaned out and shot,
pumping was started, and a small local refinery was built. A new well was
drilled near the old wells and has a production of 4 or 5 barrels a day. The
total production from the four wells, which are uncased holes 550 to 600 feet
JAN. 19, 1922 proceedings: botanical society 45
deep, is about 20 barrels a day (September, 1920). The bulk of this amount
is coming from one well, the other wells pumping much more water than oil.
The refinery will handle 800 gallons of crude oil per 8-hour shift, and the
products find a ready local market.
The oil is reported to range in gravity from 25° to 35° Baume, to have
a paraffin base that includes some asphalt, and to contain some sulphur.
The oil comes from a 1-foot bed of limestone which is at the top of the basal
Rock Canyon conglomeratic member of the Moenkopi.
It seems most probable on the evidence presented that terraces, or areas
of low dip, are favorable to the accumulation oil in this field and that the
steep slopes are unfavorable. There are no anticlines, faults, or other
features closely enough associated with the producing field to offer an ex-
planation for the accumulation of oil, so that the only likely factor left is that
of accumulation on a terrace.
The value of the region west of Hurricane fault as a possible producer of oil
it is impossible, of course, to gage in advance of drilling. The region near
St. George contains favorable structural features, and there are rocks in them
capable of serving as reservoirs for oil. At certain places, there is evidence
favorable to the assumption that these rocks carry some oil. Whether oil is
actually present in these rocks in the anticlines and domes remains for the
drill to determine.
The report closes with recommendations for drilling, H. W. Stone.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
BOTANICAL SOCIETY
The 152nd regular meeting of the Botanical Society of Washington was
held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club at 8 p.m., Tuesday, May 3,
1921. There were 32 present.
The meeting was called to order by President Chambliss, after which the
minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. The executive com-
mittee presented the names of Mr. A. J. Bruman, Mr. Frank G. O'DonnELL
and Robert Claude Wright as candidates for membership.
Dr. Robert F. Griggs of the National Geographic Society, Mr. Charles
G. Woodbury, Director of the Bureau of Raw Products Research, National
Canners' Association, and Mr. John W. Taylor of the Office of Cereal
Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, whose names were presented
at the April Meeting, were voted into the Society.
A letter from the Commission of Fine Arts to the Society in regard to the
establishment of a National Botanic Garden on the Mount Hamilton tract
was read.
Mr. PicTER moved that the Chair appoint a committee to represent the
Society in furthering the Botanic Garden project. This was seconded, the
motion put and carried. President Chambliss later appointed on this com-
mittee the following:
Mr. David G. Fairchild, Chairman
Prof. L. G. CORBETT
Mr. F. V. CoviLLE
Mr. Walter T. Swingle
Mr. George B. Sudworth
46 JOURNAL OF THS WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
The regLilar program of the evening followed:
Peter Bisset: Roses for Garden Decoration (illustrated).
The conditions suitable for best results in growing roses may be summarized.
The location should be open to the sun from the East and vSouth and protected
from the West and North by trees, preferably evergreens. The soil must be
well drained and should be enriched b}'^ the application of well-rotted manure,
which should be thoroughly spaded in. Four pounds of bone meal should be
added to each wheelbarrow load of soil.
Concerning varieties; the tea roses are very popular. The hybrid tea is
probably the rose of the future for American gardens. Maman Cochet, a
hardy tea rose, is well adapted to the climate of Washington. Of the hybrid
perpetuals, Baroness de Rotheschild, Mrs. John Laing, Mad Gabriel Luzett,
Ulrich Brunner, Paul Neyron and Frau Karl Druschke are among the most
beautiful. The ramblers have their use and can transform an ugly fence or
unsightly place into an attractive picture. Among the Rugosas, which come
to us from China, the most attractive are Mrs. George Bruant, Blanch double
de Coubert, with its semi-double flowers, and Alba semi-plenarj'- and the
hybrid Conrad F. Meyer. Hugonis is one of the latest arrivals — a new yellow
rose.
Twenty-four varieties of roses are recommended for general garden culture :
Augustine Guinoisseau Mme. Abel Chatenay
Caroline Testout Mme. Hoste
Cecile Brunner Mme. Jean Dupuy
Dean Hole Maman Cochet
Fabvier Marie van Houtte
Fisher Holmes Mrs. John I.aing
Florence Pemberton Mrs. R. G. Sharmon-Crawford
Frau Karl Druschki Rosette de la Legion d'Honneur
Gustave Grunerwald Souvenir du President Carnot
Gustave Regis Ulrich Brunner
Kaiserin Augusta Victoria Victor Hugo
La France White Maman Cochet
Dr. C. D WIGHT Marsh: Poisonous Wkorled Milkweeds (illustrated).
Asclepias galioides, the whorled milkweed, is one of the most poisonous
plants which has been investigated. This species is confined to Arizona,
New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Two to three ounces of a fresh plant of
A . galioides will kill a sheep. The effects from eating are violent spasms, then
death. High temperatures are reached in some animals in acute stages.
This species is equally poisonous to sheep and horses but is not so poisonous
to cattle, that is, with equal doses per hundred weight.
There are at least two toxic substances in plants: (1) a narcotic glucoside,
(2) a spasmodic principle. These have been separated. Capillary congestion
is caused in the organs of the animal, also degeneration in the organs. This is
so serious that recovery rarely occurs.
Asclepias pumila is found on the plains in Eastern Colorado. Eating of
these plants caused same symptoms in the animal as A. galioides, but the
plant is not so toxic. The dosage is 4 times as great.
A. verticillata geyeri — Missouri Valley, Iowa. Animals eating this plant
show same symptoms, but plant is still less toxic. Dosage 10 times as much.
It is of little importance as a poisonous plant. Dosage 2 pounds per 100 lbs.
plants.
JAN. 19, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 47
A. mexicana is found in Nevada and California extending south into Mexico.
Same symptoms — not as toxic about like pumila — dosage 4 times galioides.
All produce same effect on animals. Galioides — a dry land plant — spreads
by seed and by roots — cultivation spreads plant.
Dr. Arno ViEhoever: Edible and Poisonous Beans of the Lima Type. —
Phaseolus hinatus L. (illustrated).
Beans of the lima type {Phaseolus lunatus) are rich in food essentials,
carbohydrates, protein and fat. All varieties contain, in addition, the
glucoside linamarin, yielding, like the amygdalin of bitter almonds, hydro-
cyanic acid when macerated with water. In domestic cultivated forms the
amount of hydrocyanic acid is so small that the beans can be considered safe
for consumption. The majority of samples obtained from tropical countries,
however, were found to yield excessi\^e amounts of the poisonous acid in dif-
ferent samples as well as in individual beans of the same sample. The amount
of hydrocyanic acid found in the domestic lima beans ranged from a trace
to the maximum of 10 mg. per 100 g. of beans. We obtained from the tropical
beans quantities of hydrocyanic acid amounting to as much as 300 mg. and
more in 100 g. of the material.
The large, uniformly white lima bean, grown on an extensive scale in
California, and also imported from Madagascar, has been found harmless.
Small lima beans cannot be considered as coming from a different species
than the large lima beans. The most poisonous forms found were, however,
beans of the small type.
The color does not diflFerentiate the harmless from the poisonous forms,
neither do the morphology or structure of the beans give safe means of separa-
tion and differentiation. There are, however, morphological and anatomical
characteristics which permit the ready differentiation of beans of the lima
type from beans of other types, one of the most striking means being the
general absence of calcium oxalate in the seedcoat of Phaseolus lunattis.
Cooking of the poisonous beans does not render them harmless, although the
boiling water will extract a portion of the compound yielding hydrocyanic acid.
The name "Lima Bean" should be limited to the edible forms.
Roy G. Pierce, Recording Secretary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS
Forty-one Federal Government periodicals suspended publication on
December 1, for lack of specific authorization from Congress for their con-
tinuance. Among the scientific and technical periodicals suspended are:
Experiment Station Record; Journal of Agricultural Research; Monthly Weather
Review; and Public Roads.
The Petrologists' Club met at the home of H. G. Ferguson on December
20, and discussed the following topics: E- B. Sampson: Origin of serpentine
in the lime type of asbestos deposits; S. H. Cathcart: Review of W. N. Benson's
''Origin of serpentine;" C. S. Ross and E. V. Shannon: Iddingsite as a deuteric
mineral.
The National Museum reports the receipt of a fragment of a heretofore
unknown meteorite (a pallasite) from Cold Bay, western Alaska. The
entire mass as found was in the form of a badly oxidized mass of but a few
pounds weight, which was at once broken up by the finders and in large part
lost. The find is the second from Alaska proper, the first having been that
of Chilkat (an iron).
48 JOURNAL Olf THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 2
The Bureau of Standards announces that a considerable improvement has
been noted in the quaHty of American analytical weights. A number of sets
have been received recently in which every weight was within the prescribed
tolerances, while four recent sets of foreign weights showed 20 to 32 per cent
of the weights outside the tolerances.
A dinner was given at the Cosmos Club on Friday night, December 16, by
the officers of the Academy and the Chemical Society in honor of Prof.
Jacques Cavalier, recteur of the University of Toulouse and Exchange
Professor at a group of American universities. The dinner followed a lecture
by Prof. Cavalier at the Bureau of Standards in the afternoon, on Les in-
dustries chimiques en France pendant la Guerre.
Dr. Barton W. EvErmann, at one time with the U. S. Fish Commission
in Washington, and a former editor of the Proceedings and of the Journal of the
Academy, has been appointed director of the new Steinhart Aquarium of the
California Academy of Sciences at San Francisco, California.
A course of ten lectures on applied anthropology is being given by Dr.
Ales Hrdlicka, of the National Museum, under the joint auspices of the
Educational Department of the Young Men's Christian Association and the
Institute of Vocational Research of Washington.
Dr. W. J. Humphreys of the Weather Bureau lectured before the Physics
Club of the Bureau of Standards on November 28, on The temperature and
other conditions of the free air.
Dr. Franz August Richard Jung, a practicing physician in Washington,
and a resident member of the Academy since 1902, died at his home at 1868
Columbia Road on December 16, 1921, in his fifty-third year. Dr. Jung was
born in Thuringia, Germany, October 9, 1869. He came to the United States
in 1896, and took up the practice of his profession in Washington in collabora-
tion with his wife. Dr. SoEiE A. Nordhoff-Jung. They were in Munich
when the War began in 1914, and opened there an American Red Cross
Hospital, which was closed in 1917 when the United States entered the War.
Dr. Jung was a member of the Academy and the Medical Society, and was a
frequent contributor to the medical journals, especially on subjects related to
digestion and assimilation.
Mr. S. Kruse, associate electrical engineer at the Bureau of Standards,
who has been engaged in radio development work at the Bureau, has been
granted a year's leave of absence and has accepted a position with the Ham-
mond Radio Research Corporation, Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Mr. A. A. Stevenson, chairman of the American Engineering Standards
Committee, spoke before the Washington Section of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers on December 9 on The significance of standardization
to industry and the Federal Government.
Dr. Raymond W. Woodward has resigned as physicist and chief of the sec-
tion of mechanical metallurgy of the Bureau of Standards, to becomec hief met-
allurgist for the Whitney Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 February 4, 1922 No. 3
MINERALOGY. — Tschermigite {Ammonium Alum.) from Wyoming.
E. Theodore Erickson.^ U. S. Geological Survey.
INTRODUCTION
A sample of mineral to be tested for potash was received from Mr.
C. R. McGregor of the firm of McGregor Brothers Company, contrac-
tors and builders, Ogden, Utah. The mineral was identified as tscher-
migite, natural ammonium alum, and as far as known is the first re-
ported occurrence of this mineral in America. Mr. McGregor has
kindly furnished information regarding the deposit of the mineral; it
is located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Wamsutter, and 65 Km.
(40 miles) west of Rawlins, Wyoming, both places being on the Union
Pacific Railroad. The mineral occurs in a 2 meter ledge of black
shale and is traceable along the brink of the hills for nearly 5 km.
(3 miles).
The writer wishes to express his thanks to Dr. W. T. Schaller for his
cooperative interest in the work and preparation of this paper.
ASSOCIATION AND PROPERTIES
In the specimens received by the Geological Survey, tschermigite
forms the cementing material holding together seams of pure tscher-
migite, fragments of brown bituminous shale, nodules of yellow
jarosite and a few scattered gypsum crystals. The cementing
tschermigite is intimately mixed with the shale fragments and asso-
ciated minerals. Many of the smaller pieces of shale are rudely rec-
tangular in shape and where these have fallen away, cubic cavities re-
main in the compact tschermigite. An abundance of pure material
suitable for analysis, could readily be obtained from the seams.
The jarosite coats, and in places is inclosed in, the alum, and also
forms small pure nodular masses. It is. pale yellow in color and very
1 Published by permission of the Director, U. S. Geological Survey. Received Novem-
ber 3, 1921.
49
50 JOURNAL OP THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
fine grained, the individual crystals and their rhombohedral character
being recognized only under the highest magnifying power of the pet-
rographic microscope. The probability of this jarosite containing
ammonia was suggested. A carefully selected sample was obtained,
largely from the small nodular masses. Treatment with water at
room temperature (near 25° C.) yielded 0.87 per cent soluble matter,
consisting of some tschermigite, together with a small quantity of
jarosite, and a trace of organic matter. If it be considered that the
water-soluble content of the jarosite is practically all tschermigite the
0 . 87 per cent soluble matter would contain only 0.05 per cent am-
monia as (NH4)20. The jarosite sample was found to contain 1 .30
per cent (N 114)20, which when corrected for the ammonia in 0.87
per cent of admixed tschermigite, gave 1.25 per cent for the pure
jarosite. A lack of suitable material prevented further work being
done other than to establish quantitatively the presence of consider-
able potash and a slight amount of soda. As far as know this is the
first recorded occurrence of an ammoniacal jarosite. The small amber
colored gypsum crystals are not very abundant and do not present
any evidence of unusual composition.
The tschermigite is colorless or white in thick masses and has a
clear glassy appearance in small pieces. The mineral is isotropic and
the broken pieces do not show any cleavage. The refractive index
was found to be 1.457 and the density 1.645. Cornu- found the
density of the Dux, Bohemia, tschermigite to be 1.636. The arti-
ficial ammonium alum has the density 1.626. The value 1.50 given
for tschermigite in Dana's System of Mineralogy is obviously too low.
In some of the cavities are small incomplete crystals of tschermigite
and some of the columnar masses have a large number of minute
facets of the same crystal form along their side. Crystal faces are
also present on top of parts of the seams, but nowhere were complete
crystals evident. The incomplete crystals were seldom larger than
one or two millimeters. The forms noted are a (100), o(lll) and
d(llO), all developed nearly equally, but with a very nonequal devel-
opment of the different faces of a form on the same crystal.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
The mineral readily fuses in its own water of crystallization
below the boiling point ot toluene (105° C). It is easily soluble in
cold water and gives the usual reactions for ammonium alum. The
^ Reference given under analysis III.
FEB. 4, 1922
ERIckson: tschermigite
51
quantitative analyses were made on a uniform sample of carefully se-
lected material which was practically free from associated mineral
and gangue.
The average results obtained are tabulated below (I) , together with
the theoretical composition of ammonium alum [AI2 (804)3- (NH4)2S04.-
24H2O] (II), and analyses of the mineral from Bohemia (III, IV).
TABLE 1. — Analyses of Tschermigite
I
II
III
IV
Average analysis
of tschermigite
from Wyoming
Composition of
[Al2(S04)3.
(NH4)2S04.24H20]
Tschermigite
from Dux,
Bohemia
Tschermigite
from Briix
Bohemia
A1003
11.57
11.28
11.40
11.39
(NH4)20....
5.23
5.74
5.86<^
5.62
NaaO
K2O
0.21
Trace
[0.06
[0.17
MgO
0.13
SO3
35.11
35.33
34.99
35.14
H2O
47.82
47.65
[47.69'']
[47.59^]
Insol
0.06
0.08
FezOg.CaO.Cl
Trace
O.Ol'^
Total
100.13
100.00
100.00
100.00
** Given as 3.83 per cent (NH4)20, but obviously an error, the 3.83 per cent representing
NH3. The value has been changed to its equivalent (5.86) for (NH4)20. The water con-
tent given as 49 .72 has been correspondingly corrected to 47 .69.
^ Given as 3.67 per cent NH3 which has also been changed to its equivalent value of
5.62 per cent (NH4)20. A correction has likewise been made of the reported water per-
centage, 49.54 obtained by difference, to 47.59 per cent.
' FeaOs.
Analysis III; Deichmiiller, J. V., Neues Vorkommenvon Ammonium-alaun. Sitzb. d. n.
Ges. Isis, Dresden, 1885, 33. Analysis by Geissler. Locality, Vertrau auf Gott mine
near Dux, Bohemia. This occurrence is also described by Cornu, F., Tschermigite von
Schellenken bei Dux in Bohmen. Centr. Min. Geol. 1907, 467-468.
Analysis IV; Sachs, A., Uber ein neues Tschermigitvorkommen von Briix in Bohmen,
etc. Centr. Min. Geol. 1907: 465-467. Locality, Guidoschacht in Nieder-Georgental
near Briix, Bohemia.
A set of four earher analyses, by Gruner, Pfaff, Lampadius, and
Stromeyer, showing similar results, are given by Rammelsberg, in his
Handbuch d. Mineralchemie, p. 285 (1860). Natural ammonium alum
also occurs at Tschermig, Bohemia (from which place the mineral is
named); and has been reported from Tokod near Grau, Hungary;
Saalfeld in Thuringia; in crater of Mt. Etna with other sulfates;
and at Solfatara at Pozzuoli.
52 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
The ammonia was determined by the direct distillation of the sam-
ple in the customary Kjeldahl apparatus. A gram sample was dis-
solved in a 500 cc. Kjeldahl flask with 150 cc. of distilled water, an
excess strong NaOH solution was then added witb the usual precau-
tions and 75 cc. of distillate were slowly received into 25 cc. N/10 H2SO4.
The excess of acid in the distillate was titrated with N/10 NaOH
solution, using methyl orange indicator, the neutralization value of the
distilled ammonia being obtained by difference and its percentage
computed. Duplicate determinations agreed closely and were cor-
rected for a blank test made on all reagents used.
The mineral was dried to constant weights at temperature intervals
between 105° C. and 410° C. inclusive, with the following results. At
105° C. a loss of 36.48 per cent was obtained, which is slightly over
three-fourths of the total percentage of water. At 200° C. the remain-
ing water, excepting about one per cent of the total, was given off.
At 350° C. a few tenths of one per cent of water are still retained in
the residue. Losses in excess of the actual percentage of water com-
menced near 360° C. and became about three per cent at 410° C.
Evidently ammonium sulfate in the double compound commences de-
composition near 360° C. which is about 80° C. higher than the
decomposition temperature of pure ammonium sulfate.
TABLE 2. — The Loss Obtained by Heating Tschermigite
Temperature Percentage of loss
Toluene bath (105° C.) . . . 36.48
Air bath 125° C.
38.07
200° C.
47.10
215° C.
47.18
250° C.
47.26
'
310° C.
47.26
350° C.
47.58 ]
Percentage of water in
360° C.
47.93 J
mineral 47 . 82
410° C.
50.62
The strongly ignited residue gave a total loss of 88.06 per cent.
This loss consisted of the water and ammonia [(NH4)20] content to-
gether with nearly all of the sulfuric anhydride, a slight amount
(0.10) being retained.
In order to interpret correctly the function of the small quantity
of substances besides AI2O3, retained in the ignited residue, some com-
parative experiments with a prepared sodium alum were carried out.
The percentage of strongly ignited residue from sodium alum was
found to be nearly identical with the sum of the percentages of Na20
FEB. 4, 1922 ERICKSON : TSCHERMIGITE 53
plus AI2O3. The average results on the prepared sodium alum are as
follows :
TABLE 3
Partial Analysis, Theoretical Composition and Ignition Results of Sodium Alum
Partial analysis of
the prepared so-
dium alum
Theoretical per-
centage of NazO
-f AI2O3
Residue obtained
by strong igni-
tion
Theoretical per-
centage of Na2S04
+ AI2O3.
NasO
AI2O3
Total
6.96
11.07
17.76
17.91
17.78
26.64
Although the ignited residue from the sodium alum contained a
small quantity of sulfate which compensates for the loss of a small
quantity of volatilized alkali, the result seems to indicate the forma-
tion of a sodium aluminate, since in the ignited residue practically all
of the sulfate radical is volatilized.
The partial elimination of SO3 from Na20 in the ignited residue of
tschermigite is thus explained. It is possible that the small amount
of MgS04 in the tschermigite residue reacts in a similar way with the
AI2O3. However MgS04 alone in small quantities will dissociate con-
siderably into MgO and SO3 in the temperature of the ordinary strong
blast.
The percentage of water was obtained by subtracting the sum of
the (NH4)20 and the volatilized SO3 (the total percentage of SO3 cor-
rected for SO3 retained in the ignited residue) from the total loss on
ignition. The average results for tschermigite are tabulated below.
Table 4. — Total Water Content of Tschermigite
(NH4)20 5 .23
Total SO3 35.11
SO3 retained in the ignited residue. . . 0 . 10
Volatilized SO3 35 .01
40.24
Total loss upon ignition 88 .06
Subtracting the total of (NH4)20 and volatilized SO3 40 .24
Water by difference 47 .82
Ignited Residue of Tschermigite
Residue upon ignition 11 .94 per cent
Sum of constituents other than AI2O3 0 . 50
AI2O3 by difference 11 .44 per cent
AhOb by direct determination 1 1 . 57 per cent
54 JOURNAL OF THE) WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
The percentage of residue obtained was corrected for the minor non-
volatile constituents, as follows: Na20, 0.21 per cent; MgO, 0.13
per cent; nonvolatile insoluble matter, 0.06 per cent, and SO3 retained
in the residue, 0.10 per cent; the sum of which is 0.50 per cent.
BOTANY. — On the species of Dalbergia of Mexico and Central America.
H. PlTTlER.^
As considered in the light of modern taxonomy, the genus Dal-
bergia includes the former genera Amerimnon and Ecastophyllum.
There is no generic difference between Amerimnon, established by
Browne in 1756 to include Dalbergias with samaroid pods, and
Ecastophyllum of the same author and date, containing the species
with nummular pods. On the other hand, on the evidence of the
generic definition, the species of Amerimnon do not fit into Ecasto-
phyllum, and species of Ecastophyllum cannot come under Amerimnon.
In 1781, Linnaeus filius described his new genus Dalbergia, which
under both the International and the American Rules would not be
valid, but for the fact that neither of the two names having the priority
really represents a generic entity, but only one part of a single genus,
while the later name was intended to apply to both parts.
In this paper, therefore, in accordance with the well founded con-
clusions given by Prain^ in his extensive monograph ''The Species of
Dalbergia of South Eastern Asia," the name Dalbergia is retained to
designate the genus; Amerimnon becomes the name of a subgenus,
while the species of Ecastophyllum are transferred to a single section
of the same. This is the view accepted by all European botanists
and, I believe, by the majority of those on this side of the Atlantic.
In all the recent literature on the subject, including the description of a
large number of species old and new, the same name is used, so that
the resuscitation of Amerimnon as a substitute for Dalbergia would
cause a great and useless confusion, even omitting the fact that it
cannot be applied to the genus as understood today.
In its original form, the present paper included full descriptions of
all Mexican and Central American species. Circumstances now have
made it necessary to suppress the descriptions of old species and to re-
duce the paper to a simple enumeration of them , with their known dis-
tribution, and to descriptions of only the proposed new species.
In addition, the following key has been prepared.
^ Received December 15, 1921.
2 Ann. Bot. Gard. Calc. 10: 10-11. 1904.
FEB. 4, 1922
PITTIER: DALBERGIAS of MEXICO
55
1. D. cuhilquitzensis .
2. D. tucurensis.
3. D. melanocardium.
KEY TO THE MIDDLE AMERICAN SPECIES OF DALBERGL.\
Standard blade straight or hardly reflexed; style
short and thick (Sissoa).
Leaflets ovate or oblong-lanceolate, rather
large (3 to 11 cm. long); stamens 9.
Flowers about 5.5 mm. long, the standard
obovate, subauriculate at the base ; leaflets
3 to 8 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. broad.
Flowers about 3.5 mm. long, the standard
ovate or oblong, attenuate at the base;
leaflets 4 to 11 cm. long, 2 to 5 cm.
broad.
Leaflets ovate or ovate-long, rather small
(seldom over 4 cm. long) ; stamens 9 or 10.
Stamens 9.
Inflorescences loose, dichotomous-panicu-
late; flowers about 4 mm. long;
leaflets ovate, obtuse or subacumi-
nate. Ovary 1 -ovulate; standard
suborbiculate.
Inflorescences congested, cymose-panicu-
late.
Flowers 3 to 3.5 mm. long; ovary gla-
brous, 2 or 3-ovulate; leaflets 3 to
5 cm. long.
Flowers about 5.5 mm. long; ovary
hairy, 1 or 2-ovulate; leaflets 0.5 to
3 cm. long.
Stamens 10.
Pistil glabrous.
Ovary 4 or 5-ovulate; wings narrow,
elongate, the base of the blade
truncate, 2-auriculate ; leaflets ob-
long or obovate, whitish and rufo-
reticulate beneath.
Ovary 1 or 2-ovulate; wings oblique,
obovate, 1-auriculate; leaflets ovate,
emarginate, ferruginous-pubescent
beneath.
Pistil more or less hairy. Ovary 2 or 3-
ovulate.
Flowers 5 mm. long, the pedicels 1 mm.
long or less; ovary minutely pubes-
cent; standard subauriculate.
Flowers 10.5 mm. long, the pedicels 2.5
to 3.5 mm. long; ovary hairy on the
margins; standard attenuate at the
base.
Standard blade reflexed (with one exception,
D. hrownei, but then leaves 1-foliolate) ;
style slender, often subulate (Amerininon).
4. D. glomerata.
5. D. congestiflora.
6. D. tahascana.
7. D. cibix.
8. D. mexicana.
9. D. campecheana.
56 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
Flowers not over 12 mm. long; style geniculate,
short and straight; legume orbicular and
1 -seeded, or ovate-oblong and 1 to 3-
seeded {Ecastophyllum) .
Legume ovate-oblong, rounded at the apex,
1 to 3-seeded; flowers about 11 mm.
long; standard obov'ate, straight; leaves
1-foliolate; stamens 10.
Legume orbicular, 1 - seeded ; standard orbic-
ulate, reflexed.
Leaves 1-foliolate; flowers about 10 mm.
long; stamens 10.
Leaves 3 to 5-foliolate; flowers about 6
mm. long; stamens 9.
Flowers not less than 14 mm. long; style long
and strongly arcuate ; legume more or less
lanceolate, 1 to 5-seeded. Stamens 10
(Miscolobium) .
Leaves entirely glabrous, 5 to 7-foliolate,
the leaflets 3 to 4 cm. long.
Leaves more or less pubescent, 7 to 15-
foliolate.
Leaves and pods hardly changing color
in desiccation; leaflets 7 to 11, ovate,
glaucous beneath; legume 1 to 5-
seeded, rounded-obtuse at the apex.
Leaves and pods turning black in desic-
cation.
Leaflets suborbiculate or broadly ovate,
not over 5 cm. long, the margin not
re volute.
Leaflets ovate or oblong, up to 10.5 cm.
long, the margins re volute.
Flowers about 15 mm. long, the ped-
icels 4 to 5 mm. long; standard
suborbiculate, more or less emar-
ginate at the base.
Flowers about 16 mm. long, the ped-
icels about 5 mm. long; standard
ovate or oblong, attenuate at the
base.
10. D. hrownei.
11. D. ecastophyllum.
12. D. monetaria.
13. D. calycina.
14. D. hypoleuca.
lb. D. granadillo.
16. D. retusa.
17. D. lineata.
ENUMERATION OF SPECIES
1. Dalbergia cubilquitzensis (Donn. Smith) Pittier.
Dalbergia variabilis var. cubilquitzensis Donn. Smith, Bot. Gaz. 57: 417.
1914.
Type Locality : Cubilquitz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, altitude about 350
m.{von Tuerckheim 4091).
Other Specimens Examined:
Guatemala: Los Amates, Department Izabal, 1905, Kellerman 4789.
This species, considered by Mr. Donnell Smith as a mere variety of D.
variabilis Vogel, differs from this in the pubescence, the shape and size of the
FEB. 4, 1922 PITTIER: DALBERGIAS of MEXICO 57
calyx lobes, the shape of the petals, the number of stamens, the shape and
size of the leaves and leaflets, etc.
2. Dalbergia tucurensis Donn. Smith, Bot. Gaz. 46: 111. 1908.
Type Locality: Concepcion near Tucuon, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala (von
Tuerckheim II. 1712).
3. Dalbergia melanocardium Pittier, sp. nov.
Medium sized tree; branchlets terete, ferruginous pubescent, later
glabrate and grayish.
Leaves 7 to 11-foliolate, the rachis terete, minutely pilosulous, 4 to 13 cm.
long. Leaflets subcoriaceous, the petiolules sparsely ferruginous-pubescent,
3 to 4 mm. long, the blades ovate, rounded or subacute at the base, obtuse
and subretuse at the apex, 1.5 to 4.5 cm. long, 1.3 to 2.5 cm. broad, dark
green and pilosulous above, paler or rufescent, ferruginous-pubescent and
reticulate beneath, the very slender veins prominent on both faces.
Inflorescences paniculate, axillary and terminal, congested, shorter than
the leaves, the branched rachis ferruginous-pubescent. Bractlets small,
ovate or orbiculate, ferruginous-pubescent. Flowers sessile or short pedicel-
late, about 4 mm. long. Calyx subbilabiate, broad, fulvous-hairy, about 2.5
mm. long, the two vexillar lobes broad and rounded, the 2 lateral ones equally
long and obtuse, but narrower, the carinal one about tw^ice longer, obtuse or
bilobulate. Petals glabrous; standard suborbiculate, the claw oblique, 0.8
to 0.9 mm. long, the blade subbiauriculate at the base, emarginate at the
apex, about 3 mm. long and broad; wings free from the keel, auriculate on
both margins at the base, obtuse at the apex, about 4 mm. long (including
the claw) and 1.4 mm. broad; carinal petals broader than the wings, ovate,
auriculate on the vexillar side, obtuse, about 3.8 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad.
Stamens 9, monadelphous, the staminal tube glabrous, open above. Pistil
4.5 to 5 mm. long, the ovary stipitate, 1-ovulate, ferruginous-villous, the
style thick, arcuate, glabrous, the stigma inconspicuous.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 258410, collected at Ojo de
Agua, Department of Santa Rosa, Guatemala, altitude about 900 meters.
May, 1892, by He3^de and Lux (J. D. Smith 3295).
Known among the natives under the name of "Ebano," and distributed as
Dalbergia variabilis Vogel. Like this species it has a calyx with two broad
more or less connate upper lobes, and three narrower lower lobes, the
middle (carinal) one about twice longer, but obtuse or retuse. But the
flowers are sessile, shorter and broader, there are 9 stamens, the ovary is
densely villous-hairy and the congested inflorescence is not cymose.
4. Dalbergia glomerata Hemsl. Diag. PI. Nov. 1:8. 1878.
Type Locality: Sangolica, Mexico (Botteri 1027).
5. Dalbergia congestiflora Pittier, sp. nov.
Small tree, 3 to 4 m. high; branchlets terete, striate, sparsely lenticel-
late, at first minutely grayish-pubescent.
Leaves 7 to 13-foliolate, the rachis slender, sparsely pubescent, 4 to 11 cm.
long. Leaflets subcoriaceous, the petiolules pilosulous, 2 to 3 mm. long, the
blades ovate-oblong, broadly cuneate at the base, rounded, slightly emargi-
nate and sometimes mucronulate at the apex, 0.5 to 3 cm. long, 0.3 to 2.3
cm. broad, sparsely pilosulous on both faces, reticulate and with the venation
prominulous above, beneath lineate-reticulate, the costa and veins prominent.
58 JOURNAL OP THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
Inflorescences paniculate, cymose-branched, axillary or terminal on defoli-
ate branchlets, congested, not over 3 cm. long, the rachis densely ferrug-
inous-hairy. Bracts and bractlets oblong, ferruginous-hairy, very small,
caducous. Flowers pedicellate, 5.5 mm. long, the pedicels 1 to 1.5 mm. long.
Calyx subcampanulate, 2 to 2.5 mm. long, sparsely pubescent, the 2 vexillar
lobes broad, rounded and adnate, the lateral lobes narrower and acute, the
carinal lobe apiculate and longer. Petals glabrous; standard ovate or
oblong, more or less attenuate at the base, emarginate at the apex, 3.6 mm.
long, 1.4 to 1.6 mm. broad; wings elongate, oblique, more or less attenuate at
the base, rounded at the apex, about 3 mm. long, 0.9 to 1.1 mm. broad; cari-
nal petals ovate, auriculate on the vexillar side, obtuse at the apex, the claw
about 0.8 mm. long, the blade about 2.5 mm. long, 1.5 to 1.8 mm. broad.
Stamens 9, glabrous. Pistil 2.5 to 3 mm. long, hairy, ciliate on the margins,
the ovary 1-ovulate (?), the style short and thick, the stigma inconspicuous.
Type in the U. S. National Hebarium, no. 381855, collected on lava fields
near Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, altitude about 1650 m., March 17,
1899, by C. G. Pringle (no. 6981).
Distributed as Dalbergia glomerata Hemsley, but the leaves are much
smaller, the leaflets less numerous, more than half smaller, pilosulous on both
faces, the flowers are larger, the standard is sensibly longer than the wings
and keel and not suborbiculate but ovate or distinctly oblong, the ovary is
apparently 1-ovulate, etc.
6. Dalbergia tabascana Pittier, sp.
Shrub (?); branchlets grayish, sparsely lenticellate, at first minutely
grayish-pubescent.
Leaves 6 or 7-foliolate, the rachis slender, minutely pilosulous, 3 to 3.5 cm.
long. Leaflets subcoriaceous, the petiolules minutely pubescent, 1 to 1.5 mm.
long, the blades oblong or obovate, rounded at the base and apex, 1 to 2.5 cm.
long, 0.5 to 1 cm. broad, dark green and glabrous above, whitish or rufescent,
rufo-reticulate and minutely pilosulous beneath.
Inflorescences few-flowered, subcymose, axillary or paniculate at the end
of the branchlets, the rachis branched, sparsely gray-pubescent. Bracts
and bractlets ovate-oblong, pubescent, not over 1 mm. long, caducous. Flow-
ers pedicellate, about 9 mm. long, the pedicels minutely gray-pubescent,
2 to 4 mm. long. Calyx tubular-campanulate, 3.5 to 4 mm. long, sparsely
pubescent or glabrescent at the base, pubescent on the lobes, subbilabiate,
the carinal lobe apiculate, not much longer than the vexillar ones, these ob-
tuse, the lateral ones smaller and acute. Petals glabrous; standard obovate-
oblong, straight, attenuate and subauriculate at base, rounded and slightly
emarginate at apex, the claw about 2 mm. long, the blade 5.5 mm. long, 1 .6 mm.
broad; wings elongate-oblong, auriculate on the vexillar side, subauriculate
on the carinal side, rounded at apex, the claw 2 mm. long, the blade about
5.5 mm. long, 1.6 mm. broad; carinal petals falcate, auriculate on the vexillar
side, obtuse at the apex, the claw 2.2 mm. long, the blade about 4 mm. long
and 1.8 mm. broad. Stamens 10, monadelphous, glabrous, alternately short
and long. Pistil about 6 mm. long, glabrous, the ovary long-stipitate, 4 or
5-ovulate, the style oblique, straight, the stigma subcapitellate.
Type in the John Donnell Smith Herbarium, collected in inundated places
near Mayito, Tabasco, Mexico, August 17, 1889, by J. N. Rovirosa (no. 583).
FEB. 4, 1922 PITTIER: DALBERGIAS of MEXICO 59
The tvpe specimen is labelled Dalbergia campecheana Benth., but the leaves
are small, with few, distinctly petiolulate leaflets, the inflorescences are few-
flowered, the ovar}^ is 4 or 5-ovulate, etc.
7. Dalbergia cibix Pittier, sp. nov.
Scandent shrub or vine, ascending to 20 m. above the ground; branchlets
terete, grayish, more or less lenti'cellate, at first densely ferruginous-pubescent.
Leaves 7 to 9-foliolate, the rachis terete, slender, ferruginous-hirtous, 4 to
5 cm. long. Leaflets submembranous, the petiolules ferruginous-pubescent,
about 1.5 mm. long, the blades ovate, rounded at the base, rounded and
slightly emarginate at the apex, 1 to 2 cm. long, 0.6 to 1.3 cm. broad, sparsely
pilosulous and minutely reticulate above, beneath densely ferruginous-pubes-
cent, the costa prominent and the veins impressed; margins re volute.
Inflorescences paniculate, many-flowered, axillary, terminal or more or less
fasciculate on defoliated nodes, the rachis branched, ferruginous-hair}^
Bracts and bractlets suborbiculate, pubescent, 1 mm. long or less, caducous.
Flowers pedicellate, white, about 7 mm. long, the pedicels 1 to 1.5 mm. long.
Calyx subtubular, bilabiate, 2.5 to 3 mm. long, sparsely pubescent, the 2
vexillar lobes broad, rounded and adnate, the 2 lateral lobes small andacute,
the carinal lobe narrow, acute, twice as long as the others. Petals pink
(?), glabroas; standard oblong, hardly auriculate at the base, emarginate,
the lobes rounded at the apex, the claw 1.2 mm. long, the blade 5.5 mm. long,
3.3 mm. broad; wings oblique, obovate, auriculate on the vexillar margin
at the base, obtuse at the apex, the claw about 1.5 mm. long, the blade 4.5 to
5 mm. long, about 2 mm. broad; carinal petal subfalcate, auriculate on the
vexillar side, subacute, the claw as in the wings, the blade 3.2 mm. long,
1.5 mm. broad. Stamens 10, monadelphous, alternately long and short,
glabrous. Pistil about 5 mm. long, glabrous, the ovary stipitate, 1 or 2-o\'u-
late, the style slightly arcuate, truncate at the apex.
Legume ovate-oblong, membranous, attenuate at the base in a short,
slender stipe, rounded at the apex, 1-seeded, 4.5 to 6 cm. long, 1.5 to 1.7 cm.
broad, glabrous. Seeds immature.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 571750, collected at Yaxcaba,
Yucatan, Mexico, 1895, by G. F. Gaumer (no. 721).
According to a communication of Dr. Millspaugh, the fruits just de-
scribed, which bear the no. 57934, were collected at a different place by Dr.
Gaumer but referred to the above species, under no. 721.
The Maya name of these pods is "Kuxub-tooch," that of the type speci-
mens "cibix."
8. Dalbergia mexicana Pittier, sp. nov.
Branchlets terete, finely striate, ferruginous-puberulous, glabrate.
Leaves 9 to 11-foliolate, the rachis terete, slender, sparsely ferruginous-
pubescent, 5 to 7 cm. long. Leaflets subcoriaceous, the petiolules ferryginous-
hairy, about 2 mm. long, the blades ovate, or sometimes suborbicular or
obcordate, rounded at the base, rounded-emarginate at the apex, 1 to 4 cm.
long, 1 to 2 cm. broad, dark green, lustrous, reticulate, glabrous or sparsely
ferruginous, reticulate and sparsely pubescent beneath, the costa subimpressed
on both faces, the veins prominulous above, obsolete beneath.
Inflorescences axillary, ven.' short (not over 2 cm. long), few-branched,
the ramifications subcymose, the rachis ferruginous-hair^^ Bractlets ovate,
acute, hairy, not over 0.5 mm. long. Flowers pedicellate, about 5 mm. long,
60 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
the pedicels hairy, 1 mm. long or less. Calyx cupulate, 2 to 3 mm. long,
sparsely hairy at the base, more so on the lobules ; vexillar lobules subacute
and broad, lateral lobules small, acute, close to the carinal one and separated
from the former by deep sinuses; carinal lobule subulate, twice as long as the
vexillar ones. Petals glabrous; standard obovate, subbiauriculate at the
base, slightly emarginate at the apex, the claw 1.2 mm. long, the blade 4.2
to 4.6 mm. long, 3 to 3.3 mm. broad; wings obovate, rounded-auriculate
on the vexillar side, subauriculate on the carinal side, rounded at the apex,
the claw 1.2 or 1.3 mm. long, the blade about 4 mm. long, 1.7 or 1.8 mm. broad;
carinal petals obovate, auriculate on the vexillar side, rounded at the apex,
the claw 1.3 to 1.5 mm. long, the blade about 3 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad.
Stamens 10, monodelphous, the tube open above, glabrous. Pistil 4.8 mm.
long, the ovary minutely pubescent on the margins, 2 to 3-ovulate, the style
arcuate, glabrous, the stigma inconspicuous.
Type in the John Donnell Smith Herbarium, collected in Mexico, without
definite locality, by E. Kerber (no. 434).
9. Dalbergia campecheana Benth. Journ. Linn. Soc. 4: Suppl. 37. 1860.
Type I^ocality: Campeche, Mexico.
vSpecimens Examined :
Guatemala: Aquascalientes, 1909, Deam 6125.
Mr. J. Donnell Smith identified these specimens with Bentham's above
named species. This, however, seems to have larger leaves, with 7 to 19
almost sessile leaflets, while in Beam's specimens these are 9 to 11 and petiolu-
late. The other characters seem to agree.
10. Dalbergia brownei (Jacq.) Urban, Symb. Antill. 4: 295. 1905.
Amerimnon brownei Jacq. Enum. PI. Carib. 27. 1760.
Dalbergia amerimnum Benth. Journ. Linn. Soc. 4: Suppl. 36. 1860.
Type Locality : Jamaica.
Specimens Examined:
Venezuela: Puerto Cabello, 1874, Kuntze 1721.
Columbia: Negiiangue, on the coast between Santa Marta and Rio
Hacha, 1898, H. H. Smith 1750. Dagua Valley, Cauca, altitude 25 meters,
Triana 1130.
Panama: Providence Island, Bocas del Toro, 1885, Hart 182. Beach
between Fato and Playa Damas, 1911, Pittier 3834. Rio Grande swamps,
near Panama City, Hayes. La Palma, southern Darien, 1914, Pittier 6613.
Coiba Island, Seemann 626.
Costa Rica: Ceibo River near Buenos Aires, altitude 200 meters, 1892,
Tonduz 6675. Santo Domingo de Osa, 1896, Tonduz 9892.
Nicaragua: San Juan del Norte, 1895, Pittier 9658.
Guatemala: Boca del Polochic, Department Izabal, 1889, /. D. Smith
1708. Livingston, 1906, von Tuerckeim II. 1216.
Mexico: Veracruz, 1910, Adole (?). Tampico, 1898, Pringle 5764,
6809. Rincon Antonio, Oaxaca, 1910, Orcutt 3263.
Several species may be included under this name. According to Bentham,
it is a tree; Tonduz describes it as a shrub (arbrisseau) ; while H. H. Smith
says it is a "twining plant, reaching 30 feet, with a prickly main stem and 2
inches or more in diameter." In my own notes, no. 3834 is described as "a
shrubby vine, with white flowers," and no. 6613, as a small tree branching from
FEB. 4, 1922 pittier: dalbergias of mexico 61
the base." The only fruits at hand differ a Httle from Bentham's description,
and in Donnell Smith no. 1708, from Guatemala, I find the petals narrower,
the standard auriculate, the ovary 5-ovulate and other small differences.
Although distinctly characteristic of the strand formation, Dalbergia
hrownei is sometimes found far above sea-level. H. H. Smith observed it,
for instance, up to about 700 meters in Santa Marta.
11. Dalbergia ecastophyllum (Iv.) Taub. in Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3^:
335, 1894.
Hedysarum ecastophyllum L. Syst. ed. 10, 2: 1169. 1759.
Ecastaphyllum brownei Pers. Syn. 2: 277. 1807.
Type Locality: West Indies.
Specimens Ex.\mined:
Trinidad: Port of Spain, 1874, Kuntze 764.
Venezuela: Paparo, mouth of Rio Grande del Tuy, Barlovento, Miran-
da, 1913, Pittier 6349.
COLOMBL^: Santa Marta, 1914, Sinclair.
Panama: Chagres, 1854, Fendler 315. Colon, Hayes 155. Without
definite locaHty, 1874, Kuntze 764.
Costa Rica: Boca Banano, 1895, Tondiiz 9156. Diquis River, 1891,
Tondiiz 4014. Punta Mala, in the Diquis delta, 1892, Tonduz 6775.
Santo Domingo de Osa, 1896, Tonduz 9892.
Guatemala: Puerto Barrios, 1905, Deam 59.
Honduras: Puerto Sierra, 1903, Wilson 248. Ruatan Island, 1886,
Gaumer.
British Honduras: Manatee Lagoon, 1906, Peck 463.
Dalbergia ecastophyllum has also been reported from many localities from
Rio de Janeiro northwards and including the Guianas on the Atlantic sea-
board of South America, from all over the West Indies, and from Florida.
It is worthy of notice that this shrub does not seem to have been recorded from
Mexico.
12. Dalbergia monetaria L. f. Suppl. 317. 1781.
Type Locality: Surinam.
Specimens Examined:
French Guiana: Karouany, Sagot 159.
Venezuela: Bosque de Catuche, above Caracas, 1913, Pittier 6297.
Panama: Rio Sirri, Trinidad Basin, province of Colon, near sea-level,
1911, Pittier 4029.
Honduras: Tela River, near Puerto Sierra, 1903, Wilson 77. Laguna
Quemada, Atlantic Coast, 1903, Wilson 627.
Guatemala: Puerto Barros, 1905, Deam 70.
This species is scarcer in Central America than either D. brownei or D.
ecastophyllum. It does not figure in the Biologia Centrali- Americana, and,
since the publication of this work, has been reported only from a few localities
as shown above, all on the Atlantic seaboard, from Guatemala southeast-
wards. It is found also in the West Indies and on the eastern watershed of
South America as far south as the Amazon basin. It penetrates far into the
interior along the main rivers, and in the vicinity of Caracas reaches an altitude
of about 1200 meters.
62 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
Unless it has been incorrectly stated, the habit of this species is very varia-
ble. Some report it as a shrub or small tree up to 3 meters high; Bentham^
says "caulis lignosus vulgo scandens;" and the notes corresponding to my no.
6297 from near Caracas are as follows: "a large vine, often 15 cm. in diam. at
the base and climbing to the top of the highest trees." The shape of the
fruit is also different inspecimens from different localities, although I have
never seen the oblong type reproduced in plate 63 of the work just cited.
With reference to this plate it may be opportune to mention that although
Bentham indicates only 9 stamens, as always found by myself, he gives two
illustrations of the androecium of D. monetaria, each with 10 stamens.
13. Dalbergia calycina Benth. Journ. Linn. Soc. 4: Suppl. 35. 1860.
Type Locality: Guatemala (Friedrichsthal) .
14. Dalbergia hypoleuca Pittier, sp. nov.
Tree; young branchlets ferruginous-pubescent.
Leaves 7 to 11-foliolate, the rachis terete, pubescent, glabrescent, 10 to
20 cm. long. Leaflets coriaceous, often opposite or subopposite, the petiol-
ules canaliculate, grayish-pubescent, 5 to 7 mm. long, the blades ovate or
ovate-oblong, rounded at the base, obtuse and subretuse at the apex, 3 to
7 cm. long, 2 to 3 cm. broad, glabrous and finally reticulate with the venation
prominulous above, beneath grayish or whitish, minutely pubescent, with
the costa very prominent and the veins slightly so ; margins strongly revolute.
Inflorescence axillary or terminal. Flowers not known.
Legume coriaceous, glabrous, long-stipitate, rounded-attenuate at the base,
rounded and mucronulate at the apex, 1 -seeded and then 8 cm. long and 2 cm.
broad, or 2 to 5-seeded and up to about 16 cm. long, the breadth varying
between 1.7 and 1 cm.
Type in the John Donnell Smith Herbarium, collected at El Escobal,
near Atenas, Costa Rica, by Federico Golcher. Represented also in the U. S.
National Herbarium (no. 716263) by the same collection, without date, and
numbered 1747, which probably corresponds to the series of the Instituto
fisico-geografico.
This is the Costa Rican Cocobola, equal in value to that of Panama, but even
scarcer. It is probably a close relative of the latter, but the leaflets are less
numerous, and the pods much narrower.
15. Dalbergia granadillo Pittier, sp. nov.
Tree. Leaves 7 to 13-foHolate, the rachis terete, at first pubescent, 9 to
17.5 cm. long. Leaflets submembranous, often subopposite, the petiolules
sparsely pubescent or glabrescent, canaliculate, 4 to 5 mm. long, the blades
suborbiculate or ovate, broadly rounded at the base, obtuse or subacumi-
nate at the apex, 3 to 5.5 cm. long, 2 to 4 cm. broad, glabrous and reticulate
with the venation prominulous above, glabrous except on the prominent,
sparsely pubescent costa, and the veins prominulous, beneath, margins
not revolute.
Inflorescence paniculate, axillary or terminal, the rachis few-branched,
ferruginous-pubescent. Flowers few. Calyx cupulate, ferruginous-pubes-
cent, persistent. Other floral details not known.
3 In Mart. Fl. Bras. 15': 229. 1862.
FEB. 4, 1922 pittier: dalbergias oe mexico 63
Legume lanceolate, long-stipitate, attenuate at the base, acute at the apex,
glabrous, lustrous, 1-seeded and about 9 cm. long and 1.8 or 2 cm. broad, or
2 to 4-seeded and then up to 17.5 cm. long. Seeds oblong-reniform, not
mature.
Type in the Gray Herbarium, collected at El Tibor, in the valley of the
Balsas River (between the States of Guerrero and Michoacan), Mexico, Au-
gust 22, 1898, by E. Langlasse (no. 294).
Like D. retusa and D. hypoleuca, this species furnishes a precious wood,
which is hard, fine, and red- veined, and is known locally as granadillo.
The specimens at hand are hardly satisfactory for a description, but they
belong to a section heretofore not known to be represented in Mexico, and
differ from the other Middle American species of the group in the shape,
consistence and indument of the leaflets, and in the shape and appearance
of the pods. It is consequently pretty safe to consider them as correspond-
ing to a type specifically distinct.
16. Dalbergia retusa Hemsl. Diagn. PI. Nov. 1: 8. 1878.
Type Locality : Paraiso, Panama {Hayes 642) .
Specimens Examined :
Panama: Penonome, Code, 1908, Williams 425. Chagres River above
Alhajuela, 1911, Pittier 3511. Vicinity of La Palma, southern Darien, 1914,
Pittier 6606.
Costa Rica : Salinas Bay, between the littoral plain and La Cruz de Guan-
acaste, 1908, PiUier 2737.
This is the Panama "cocobola," a hard wood very well known commercially
and obtained probably from several species of the same genus. I have seen
no specimens from the type collection, but ours agree generally with the
description. The leaflets, however, are more numerous and not usually
retuse and the flowers seem to be smaller.
In Panama this tree has been exploited with such diligence as to have be-
come very scarce in the central and western districts. In 1914 the more im-
portant logging camps were at Sumacate and Rio Congo in Darien.
17. Dalbergia lineata Pittier, sp. nov.
Large deciduous tree with rounded crown; young branchlets minutely
fuliginous-pubescent.
Leaves 8 to 15-foliolate, the rachis 8 to 20 cm. long, more or less fuliginous-
pubescent. Leaflets petiolulate, at first membranous, often opposite or
subopposite, the petiolules grayish -hairy, about 7 mm. long, the blades
ovate or oblong, cuneate or attenuate at the base, obtuse at the apex, 4 to
8 cm. long, 2 to 3.5 cm. broad, glabrous above, with the costa and veins
prominent, densely grayish-pubescent beneath. Stipules ovate, acute,
fuliginous-pubescent without, up to 7 mm. long and 3 mm. broad, very cadu-
cous.
Inflorescences paniculate, axillary or terminal, few-flowered, the rachis
fuliginous-pubescent, 4 to 15 cm. long. Bracts and bractlets fuliginous-
hairy, very caducous, the latter oblong, obtuse, not over 1 mm. long, inserted
in pairs close to the calyx. Flowers about 16 mm. long, the pedicels densely
fuliginous-hairy, about 3 mm. long. Calyx cupulate, 5 to 6 mm. long, densely
pubescent, the vexillar lobes broader, equal in length to the lateral ones, the
64 JOURNAL OP THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
carinal lobe linear-apiculate and longer. Petals white, delicately purple-
lined, glabrous; standard strongly reflexed, ovate, attenuate at the base,
emarginate at the apex, the claw 3 mm. long, the blade 10 mm. long, 8.5 mm.
broad; wings obovate, oblique, auriculate on the vexillar side, the claw 3.5
mm. long, the blade 11.5 mm. long, 4.5 mm. broad; carinal petals falcate,
auriculate on the vexillar side, obtuse at the apex, the claw as in the wings,
the blade about 10 mm. long, 4 mm. broad. Stamens 10, monadelphous,
alternately long and short. Pistil about 13 mm. long, glabrous, the ovary
long-stipitate, linear, 4 to 6-ovulate; style strongly arcuate; stigma capitel-
late, inconspicuous.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 577918, collected at Nicoya,
Costa Rica, April, 1900, by A. Tonduz (no. 13969).
A specimen (Inst, fis.-geogr. n. 13887), obtained by the same collector from
the forest of Nicoya, is probably the same species. However, the specimens
are leafless and floral panicles larger and many -flowered. Mr. Tonduz says
that the tree they proceed from is a preponderant one in the forests of the
peninsula, being gregarious and giving a characteristic bluish-gray color to
the forests in April, the flowering time.
The affinities of this species are evidently with Dalhergia retusa Hemsley.
EIvKCTRIClTY. — Electromotive force of cells at low temperatures.^
G. W. ViNAL AND F. W. Altrup, Bureau of Standards.
The practical importance of a knowledge of the electromotive be-
havior of dry cells and storage batteries at low temperatures has arisen
from their use in the Arctic and at high altitudes. In June, 1921 the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution, of
Washington, through Dr. S. J. Mauchly, requested the Bureau of
Standards to furnish information in answer to the following questions :
(a) What is the open circuit voltage of dry cells at approximately 0°
Fahrenheit and below? (b) Are dry cells fit for use after they have
been frozen and thawed out again? Since there was no reliable in-
formation available on this subject, experimental work was under-
taken which included observations on storage batteries also. In
the first experiment the temperature range was extended to — 72° C.
and as the open circuit voltage of the cells was not materially changed
by cooling them to this temperature, the work was extended to
— 170° C. because of the theoretical interest in the application of the
Gibbs-Helmholtz and Nernst equations to these cells.
Two methods of cooling the cells were employed. For the range
+25° to —72° C, the cells were submerged in a gasoline bath to which
small amounts of carbon dioxide snow were added gradually until the
^ Published by permission of the Director of the Bureau of Standards. Received Jan-
uary 6, 1922.
FEB. 4, 1922 VINAL AND ALTRUP: CELLS AT LOW TEMPERATURES 65
lowest temperature attainable by this means was reached, when an
excess of the snow was packed around the cells. For the range
+ 20 ° C . to — 1 70 ° C . liquid air was used for cooling . The dry cells were
placed in a double walled glass jacket similar to a Dewar vessel,
but having air at atmospheric pressure between the walls. This was
submerged in liquid air contained in a larger Dewar flask. The stor-
age cell, contained in a glass test tube, was similarly arranged with the
addition of a ground-cork packing to protect it from breakage. By
this means the cooling was gradual, about 2 hours being required for
the cells to fall from room temperature to the lowest temperature
available.
The temperature was measured by a thermocouple of standardized
constantan and copper wire. Since it was not practicable to insert
the thermocouple in the dry cells of which the e.m.f. was measured,
the thermocouple was placed at the center of a similar dry cell which
was grouped symmetrically with the other cells. The temperature
of the storage cell was measured by placing the thermocouple, protected
by a thin-walled glass tube, in the electrolyte between the positive and
negative plates of the cell. The electromotive forces of the thermocou-
ples were read on a high resistance potentiometer.
The dry cells measured were "^ I ^ inch diameter X ^2} 1% inch high,
taken from flashlight batteries of a well known make. A few experi-
ments on silver chloride dry cells were made also. The storage cells
were made by cutting strips of suitable size from the pasted plates of
an automobile starting and lighting battery. These were placed in
test tubes about 1 inch in diameter with perforated hard rubber sep-
arators and a few glass beads. The electrolyte was adjusted to a spe-
cific gravity of 1.275 to 1.280 at the end of 5 days of continuous charg-
ing at 0.4 ampere.
The voltage of the cells during test was measured by 3 different
methods but the open-circuit measurements at the lowest tempera-
tures could be made only by an electrometer. This instrument was
loaned to us by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. The open
circuit voltages were also measured on a 20,000-ohm potentiometer
which afforded a very sensitive method before the cells were frozen
although after this it was nearly useless. A voltmeter having a scale
of 2.5 volts and a resistance of 25,000 ohms was used for some of the
measurements.
The results of experiments with dry cells of the ordinary type are
shown in Table 1 and Fig. 1. Curves A and B represent the open-
66 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOI^. 12, NO. 3
circuit voltages as measured for two different cells by the electrom-
eter and the potentiometer. Curves C, D, E and F represent the
terminal voltage when the cells were discharging through 25,000,
100, 25 and 4 ohms, respectively. The curves indicate the existence of
a critical point at about —21° C.
The open-circuit voltage curves indicate that changes in the temper-
ature coefficient occur at certain temperatures. Between +26° and
0° C. the coefficient was found to be constant and somewhat less than
a millivolt per degree. The coefficient is positive, that is, increase
in temperature is accompanied by increase in voltage. Between 0°
TerTjocrK/Zar-G. c/efir^as Ce/^;^5<^-oofe>
Fig. 1. Effect of temperature on the voltage of dry cells.
and -20° C. the coefficient is still positive, but larger. At -20.4° C.
a break occurs. The temperature coefficient becomes much larger
during the next few degrees and then changes to negative at about
— 24°. At —54° the coefficient again becomes positive. It is inter-
esting to note that at — 54° C. the voltage is higher than at ordinary
temperatures.
Curves C, D, E and F show that the ordinary dry cell can deliver
current down to about —20° C, below which the voltage falls off
rapidly to zero.
FEB. 4, 1922 VINAL AND ALTRUP: CELLS AT LOW TEMPERATURES
67
Silver chloride dry cells were measured in a similar manner, and the
open circuit voltages are given in Table 1. When the voltage was
measured by the 25,000-ohm voltmeter, however, the terminal voltage
began to fall rapidly fromO° C. downward. At —10° it was 0.9 volt,
and from this point it decreased nearly linearly to 0.05 volt at —50°.
Experiments were also made to determine the voltage of storage
cells within the range +25° to —72° C, using the electrometer, the
potentiometer and the voltmeter to measure the voltage. As freezing
did not occur within this range, the potentiometer gave the most ac-
curate results and these are given in Table 1, but the results of all
TABLE 1.
Open Circuit Voltages of Cells for Values Below —70° C. See Fig. 2
Temperature
Ordinary* dry
cell
Storage* cell
Silver** chloride
cell
°c.
Volts
Volts
Volts
20
1.540
2.116
1.06
10
1.537
2.113
1.05
0
1.533
2.111
1.04
-10
1.523
2.107
1.03
-20
1.512
2.103
1.02
-30
1.508
2.100
1.01
-40
1.530
2.096
1.00
-50
1.540
2.092
0.99
-60
1.540
2.087
0.98
-70
1.526
2.081
0.97
* Based on potentiometer readings.
** Interpolated values based on electrometer readings.
methods were in good agreement. The temperature coefficient was
small and constant. This fact permitted an accurate estimate of
the temperature coefficient to be made since the cell had sufficient
time for thermal equilibrium to be established at the beginning and
end of this range. The temperature coefficient was found to be
0.000398 volt per degree C.
It is interesting to compare this result with the value computed from
the available thermochemical data and the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation.
This equation is usually written
2=^-T«^ (1)
where Q is the heat of the reaction; W the available work and T the
absolute temperature. This equation is applicable to a reversible
cell in which the passage of current does not involve any appreciable
68 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
change in volume. If E denotes the open circuit voltage of the cell
W equals 96500 E volt-coulombs- for 1 equivalent. Q expressed in
calories may be converted to voltcoulombs by multiplying by 4.183
and the equation becomes:
dE 1
— = - (E- 0.000021674 Q). (2)
Both E and Q are dependent on the concentration of the electrolyte
which for this experiment was of 1.280 sp. gr. The value of E cor-
responding to the initial value T was observed directly. The value
for Q may be calculated from published thermochemical data.
The commonly accepted reaction of the lead accumulator during
discharge may be described by the following equation:
Positive plate, Pb02+H2S04
+W.H2O -^ 2PbS04+(n+2)H20
Negative plate, Pb+H2S04 J
where n is the number of molecules of water to 2 molecules of sulphuric
acid in the original solution. The corresponding thermochemical
equation is
PbOo + Pb + 2H2SO4 + W.H2O = 2PbS04 + (w + 2)H20 + Q„
where Q„, the heat of the reaction, depends on the dilution of the
acid, which is fixed by n. Since the chemical reaction must take
H2SO4 from the dilute electrolyte, the energy represented by Q„ for
other strengths of acid will be less in amount by the quantity of heat
evolved by dilution of the acid, or Q„ will be greater if the concen-
tration is greater.
Values for Q have been determined by Streinz^ and Tscheltzow^ to
be 87000 and 88600 calories, respectively. The mean of their determi-
nations is 87800 calories. Dolezalek^ states that these values apply
to dilute sulphuric acid (1 molecule of H2SO4 to about 400 molecules
of H2O) and hence a correction for the heat of dilution is necessary.
The heat of dilution^ of the acid solution from a specific gravity of
1.280 as used in our experiment to the concentration equivalent to
1 molecule of acid to 399 mols.of water is 2210 calories per gram mole-
cule. Two gram molecules are involved and hence the value for
2 The value 96500 coulombs is based on recent determinations with the silver and iodine
voltameters by Vinal and Bates at the Bureau of Standards Sci. Paper No. 218.
3Wied. Ann. 53: 698. 1894.
* Comptes Rendus 100: 1458. 1885.
* Theory of the Lead Accumulator, p. 29.
' Thomsen's data, Landolt and Bornstein tables, ed. 4, p. 885.
FEB. 4, 1922 VINAL AND ALTRUP : CELLS AT LOW TEMPERATURES
69
the heat of the reaction for an electrolyte of 1.280 specific gravity is
87800 4- 4420 = 92220 calories.
The value for K at 25° C. and electrolyte of specific gravity 1.280
was 2.120 volts. The temperature, 25° C, corresponds to 298° abso-
lute. Substituting these values for T, E and Q in equation (2) the
value for the temperature coefficient dE/dT is found to be 0.0004.07
The results of the experiment showed a decrease in the open circuit
voltage of 0.0386 volt when the temperature was decreased 97° from
which dE/dT = 0.000398.
Open O/rcuj/ \/b//t^tBS of/^^^ Cg//
onc/S/or^c^e Ce/J a/JLow '^rBjO'sr-cf/iir^s _
an G/ec^oin€;Mn
Ce//s /n cr cfoiziJc CLKi/h</a/rjcic/r&/.
' J.ZVS ^
ce// J.ZVS
Oc/yv, J3itf
_J I I L
-J I I L_
TeTT^cer^c/ijr'e^, c^ar&e^ O
Fig. 2. Open circuit voltages of dry cell and storage cell of low temperatures.
The agreement of this observed value with that calculated from
thermochemical data is better than would be expected and gives a
striking proof of the validity of the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation over
a wide range of temperature.
A second series of measurements extending the temperature range
down to —170° C. was then made. Only the electrometer readings
are of value at this low temperature. The results on a dry cell and a
storage cell are shown graphically in Fig. 2. These are the open
circuit voltages measured electrostatically. The storage cell showed
70 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
marked under-cooling of the electrolyte before freezing began. The
dry cell showed a considerable increase in voltage at — 112° C. over the
normal value. The most remarkable facts are the reversal of voltages
and the extraordinarily large values of voltage exhibited by the stor-
age cell, exceeding ten volts at the lowest temperatures. The cur-
rent was of course vanishingly small.
Nernst's equation applied to the storage battery in accordance with
Liebenow's theory^ is as follows:
^ RT ^ ex.
E = In
[Pb++][PbO— ]
where Cp and C^ are the solution tensions of the positive and nega-
tive active material and the bracketed values represent the corre-
sponding ionic concentrations. It is evident that a decrease in the
ionic concentrations would result in an increase in the value of E if
other quantities remained the same.
The freezing of the electrolyte reduces the mobility of the ions
practically to zero. If, then, the ions which are in immediate contact
with the surface of the electrodes are discharged, they cannot be re-
placed by the migration of other ions from the electrolyte and the effect
in the region of the electrodes is essentially a decrease in the ionic con-
centrations. The equation therefore suggests the possibility of in-
creased values of B as was observed after the freezing occurred.
No ready explanation of the reversal of voltage is available unless
it be assumed that the variation of solution tension of each electrode
with temperature is such that curves representing them would inter-
sect at the temperature at which reversal occurs. Pressure may have
had something to do with the voltage variations since the electrom-
eter showed violent fluctuations whenever the frozen electrolyte of
the storage cell "ticketed." Ice below the freezing temperature
sometimes makes a similar ticking sound.
The genuineness of the reversed voltage was shown by the following
observations : The dry cell after showing a steady reversed voltage of
about 1.4 volts was removed from the liquid air and in the course of
a few minutes, the reversed voltage decreased steadily, passed through
zero, and increased to a normal positive value. Secondly, the po-
tentiometer used for simultaneous measurements with the electrom-
eter on the storage cell retained enough sensibility to show that the
^ Zeitschr. f. Elektrochem. 3: 625. 1897.
FEB. 4, 1922 abstracts: geology 71
potential was reversed at the same time that the electrometer showed
a reversed reading.
All of the cells, including the ordinary type of dry cell, the silver
chloride cells and the storage cells appeared to be entirely normal after
being thawed out. The glass test tube containing the storage cell was
not broken.
The experiments in the range 25° to —72° C. answer completely
the practical questions which prompted the investigation. The
thermodynamic theory as expressed in the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation
is accurately confirmed by the measurements on a storage cell. At
temperatures down to —170° C. points of theoretical interest were
found. These suggest that potential differences of normal value at
ordinary temperatures may be greatly magnified at extremely low
temperatures when the current is vanishingly small. High atmos-
pheric potentials sometimes observed may have some relation to this
effect.
We wish to thank Dr. L. A. Bauer, Director of the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism, for his courtesy in lending us the electrometer
and Dr. Mauchly for assistance in taking some of the observations,
also Dr. E. Buckingham for valuable suggestions.
ABSTRACTS
GEOLOGY. — Deposits of manganese ore in Montana, Utah, Oregon, and
Washington. J. T. Pardee. U. S. Geo!. Surv. Bull. No. 725-C. Pp.
141-243, pis. 4, figs. 11. 1921.
The demand for manganese, created by the World War, caused the de-
velopment of many deposits in the States mentioned. Those at Phillipsburg
and Butte, Montana, which became the most productive in the United
States are parts of the quartz veins that carry silver and zinc. They were
formed in Tertiary time by the replacement of country rock by manganiferous
carbonates and silicates that emanated from intrusive granitic magmas.
The superficial parts of the deposits have been oxidized without noteworthy
changes in their manganese content.
In Utah deposits of manganese ore related to metalliferous veins are found
in several of the mining districts. In the Little Grande district flat lying,
lens-like or tabular masses of manganese oxides, found at a certain horizon
in the Mesozoic McElmo formation, were deposited originally as carbonate
associated with limestone, gypsum and other sediments. In the later Terti-
ary they were uncovered by erosion, oxidized and locally concentrated into
workable bodies.
In the Lake Creek district, Oregon, manganese oxides fill cracks, pores, or
other cavities in a Tertiary volcanic tuff. The manganese was deposited by
descending solutions, but its origin is obscure. Other deposits formed by
72 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 3
replacement of country rock by carbonate or silicate minerals occur in south-
western and northeastern Oregon.
In Washington, in the Olympic Mountains and the northern part of the
Puget Sound region, are uncommon deposits that consist chiefly of bementite
a silicate of manganese. Associated with the bementite are quartz, rhodonite,
manganocalcite and unidentified oxides of manganese. Hematite forms
separate though closely related bodies. Locally the bementite is cut by
veinlets of neotocite, a kindred silicate, and in places it contains specks and
flakes of native copper. The deposits are thought to be manganiferous
marine sediments, greatly altered by regional metamorphism. J. T. P.
GEOLOGY. — Deposits of chromite in California, Oregon, Washington and
Montana. J. S. Diller, L. G. Westgate and J. T. Pardee, U. S.
Geol. Surv. Bull. No. 725-A. Pp. 84 with maps, 5 plates and 23 figures.
During the World War it became necessary to determine as closely as
possible the chromium resources of the country. It was demonstrated that
the United States had reserve deposits adequate to supply a war demand for
several years. Now that the war is over the country is conserving its domes-
tic supplies by employing higher grade and cheaper ore from foreign countries.
The first paper "Chromite in the Klamath Mountains, California and Ore-
gon" discusses in detail the occurrence and origin of chromite, and in this re-
spect serves as an introduction to all the papers that follow.
In the Klamath Mountains chromite deposits have three distinct struc-
tures, even granular, nodular and banded. The nodular is concretionary and
the banded is gneissoid. The even granular deposits are the most abundant
and widely distributed in California, Oregon and Washington. The nodular
structure occurs in California and Oregon and the banded structure in Cali-
fornia and Montana. In California the banded structure is distinctly as-
sociated with gneiss ; and in Montana it occurs in a remarkable dike of peri-
dotitic rock. ^ T. S. D.
GEOLOGY. — Geology of the vicinity of Tuxedni Bay, Cook Inlet, Alaska.
Fred H. Moffit. U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 722-D. Pp. 7, with geologic
map, 1921.
The paper describes the marine sedimentary rocks of a small area on the
west side of Cook Inlet where a section of Middle and Upper Jurassic beds
is particularly well displayed. These beds comprise a succession of sand-
stones, arkoses, shales, and conglomerates, derived in large part from a
nearby ancient land mass where granitic rocks were abundant, and reach a
thickness of possibly 9000 feet. The beds are especially fossiliferous in the
lower part and are there characterized by an abundance of plant remains
intermingled with the marine invertebrate forms. The Jurassic beds are
faulted against the volcanic rocks of the Aleutian Range on the west and dip
at angles ranging from 10° to 25° south-southeast or toward Cook Inlet.
Petroleum seeps are known in these rocks in the vicinity of Iniskin Bay
about 40 miles southwest of Tuxedni Bay but were not seen in the area
which is described. F. H. M.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 February 19, 1922 No. 4
GENERAL SCIENCE. — The scientist in the Federal Service. ^ Alfred
H. Brooks, Geological Survey.
A presidential address places the auditors completely at the mercy
of the speaker, for custom rules that no matter how pitiless his barrage
of heresies they may not return his fire. On the other hand, while
it is obeying the order "Attention!" the audience is able to examine
the enemy's position in critical detail, to note the accuracy of his
fire, and to determine the destructive effect of his projectiles. Still
a retiring president has the advantage in that he can venture a frontal
attack with safety and, if he does not reach his objective or even hold
ground temporarily gained, can retire to his trenches of oblivion before
a counter attack can be launched.
In this stronghold of Government science it is the part of boldness
to discuss the scientists in the Federal service, about which most of
you have first-hand information and all of you, no doubt, have fixed
convictions. As some measure of defense I shall not omit the time-
honored plea of lack of opportunity for exhaustive study, though it
may come very ungraciously from one who has been so greatly honored.
The conceptions of the Federal investigator are so varied as to make
the task of giving a composite picture of him absolutely hopeless.
To the man on the street the Federal scientist is a learned gentleman
who, supported by Government bounty, leads in general an easy and
indolent life but who on occasion, by some legerdemain, saves a sit-
uation. In the industries he is classed by some as a saving angel,
by others as a freak, who, because he asks foolish questions and shows
a tendency to pry into affairs of others, may be a public pest, one who
at long intervals avenges any slight by inflicting a report on the public,
written in words that cannot be understood. A few academicians
appear to view the Federal scientific corps as composed chiefly of
persons of mediocrity who are occupied in routine, propaganda,
lobbying, and self-aggrandizement.
^ Presidential address delivered before the Washington Academy of Sciences, January
10, 1922.
73
74 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12. NO. 4
One who would know the Federal scientist must trace him to his
lair and must learn his habits while he is running wild on his native
heath. His environment is peculiar and must be studied to under-
stand his reaction to it. Are his physical and mental variations from
the type of Homo scientificus sufficient to justify the setting up of a
new species? The biologic phase of the problem is beyond my ken,
but I venture the opinion that the Federal scientist does not differ
from the average investigator. During a century of evolution this
great army of scientists fortunately has not developed a sufficient class
consciousness to make it a unit. The strongest critics of Federal
science come from within the service, not from without.
The unique intellectual and social atmosphere of Washington,
the History and the magnitude of Governmental scientific institutions,
and the definite limitations set by law have developed an environ-
ment for the Federal scientist quite different from that of the investi-
gator supported by private funds. His field is multifarious in character
and continental in dimensions; it includes every branch of science
and every industry, and it ministers to the material and educational
needs of over a hundred million people. His available resources
in funds, however, limit his activities to only part of his field, and his
apparently boundless opportunities are closely circumscribed by very
definite laws which prescribe both his methods and, to a large extent
his objectives.
Detailed knowledge of the conditions of Federal research must needs
be based on a close scrutiny of every one of the forty-odd bureaus
devoted in whole or in part to scientific inquiry. This scrutiny I
have not essayed, for it is beyond the capacity of anyone even had he
infinity of time. Moreover, I have a suspicion that such a self-
imposed critical inquiry would not be conducive to the long and
happy life in Washington that I hope to enjoy. It is fortunate,
therefore, that the examination of the affairs of individual bureaus is not
essential to learn the general conditions that control Federal research.
The peculiar atmosphere of Washington, a city of Government and
little more, has exercised an important influence on Federal science.
Here science has been advanced by prescription of law and not by
force of tradition or local demand. During a century there has been
developed here one of the great scientific centers of the world, and it
is a center that is not greatly affected by outside influences. Only
during the last two decades have researches other than Governmental
found seat at the National capital. Washington's institutions of
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 75
higher learning were founded chiefly to meet the needs of her citizens,
and their influence on Government science has been negligible. Other
scientific centers, such as Paris, Berlin, and London, have grown up
under a different environment. In these cities science was fostered
by old universities and learned societies long before national research
was begun. In consequence, Government science in Europe has been
closely coordinated with the great institutions of learning and has
been molded by their traditions and personnel. The learned societies
of European countries have also had a strong influence on Govern-
mental science. In contrast to this. Federal science in the United
States has been developed without academic traditions or without
close affiliation with university investigators and it has been little
influenced by learned societies. The National Academy of Science,
founded half a century after the beginning of Federal research, though
charged by law with advisory duties to the Government, has only
occasionally been called into consultation. Indeed, before the war
the Academy as a body was often out of direct touch and apparently
somewhat out of sympathy with scientific work in Washington. Now
that it has undertaken the difficult task of coordinating research
throughout the land, it has come closer to the Federal investigator..
The influence of the National Academy in the past, however, has been
very different from that of ITnstitut de France and the Royal Society
of Great Britain.
Federal science has developed its own traditions, set its own stand-
ards, and followed its own self-chosen paths. It may not be denied
that this freedom from academic tradition has made for an independence
of thought that is not without value. On the other hand, it is not well
that the contact between Federal and university science is less close
than it was a generation ago. The Federal bureaus are sometimes
too prone to regard the universities only as training schools. On
the other hand, many of the universities, not clearly understanding
the purpose of the Federal service, are overcritical of its results in
part, no doubt, because these do not always meet the special needs-
of the teacher.
Another dominating feature of Washington science is its exclusively
professional character. Most Federal investigators devote their
entire time to science and find their social life among their professional
colleagues. It is science morning, noon, and night, with but few other
intellectual interests. In contrast to this, the university scientist
divides his time between teaching and research, and the vast majority
76 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
of his colleagues are engaged in other intellectual pursuits. Thus the
scientific investigator in a university, living in an atmosphere of wide
intellectual interests, is usually more scholarly than the investigator
in the Federal service. On the other hand, the university scientist
has no rivals among his immediate associates, and his results do not
always run the gauntlet of stern criticism, as do those of the Federal
scientist. The university scientific groups therefore have a tendency
to become mutual admiration societies. This tendency and the wor-
ship of his disciples among the students sometimes lead the university
scientist to become a professional oracle whose dicta may not be de-
nied. Such a mental attitude prevents right thinking, and it is for-
tunate that the Washington atmosphere is unfavorable to its growth.
If Washington were larger and had more diversified interests, like
European capitals, it would include a large number of amateur scien-
tists. I use the term amateur in lieu of a better word to designate
the nonprofessional investigator, who is not to be confounded with
the dilettante. The amateur brings into science an enthusiasm for
his subject which in the professional sometimes becomes dormant.
It is unfortunate that he is almost unknown in Washington, for he could
do much to vivify science, which may become too much a matter of
the day's work to the Federal investigator. Local scientific societies,
too, would be benefited by the enthusiasm of the amateur, for these
societies are highly specialized, and their meetings too often resemble
a council called by some bureau chief. The few amateurs in Wash-
ington, though welcomed at these meetings, are not likely to find the
atmosphere of professionalism congenial to their aspirations. The
university investigator, on the other hand, has the advantage of
contact with the amateur as represented by his students.
Most European scientific centers are in large industrial cities, but
the industries of Washington are solely those needed to support the
population domiciled at the seat of Government. Federal investi-
gators must therefore seek contact with the business world at places
away from the scene of their principal activities. Though may of
them do so, the scientific service as a whole is isolated from commer-
cial life. Industry sometimes makes the charge that the products
of Washington science, because of this isolation, are impractical,
meaning thereby that they cannot be used at any given time for
commercial profit. Obviously, if a scientific principle is true it can-
not be impractical, and it falls to the technician to determine whether
it can or cannot be applied to the advantage of industry. This mis-
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 77
understanding of the purpose of science is due to lack of clear distinc-
tion between the fields of the investigator and of the technician.
The investigator establishes a principle of science; the technician
utilizes that principle to improve some practice of industry. The
confusion of thought is increased because in some fields the investigator
may also be the technician and may himself apply to industry
the results he obtains from research. Many scientists in the Federal
service are acting in this dual capacity. Many inventors and nearly
all scientists employed by industry are doing the same thing. How-
ever successful and valuable such scientists may be, the fact that the
Federal service is largely free from the direct influence of the business
world has without question been of great advantage to science and
therefore to industry.
Those who are not in touch with Washington life and who know the
city chiefly as a political center may hold that the political environ-
ment must have an important influence on Federal science. Such an
opinion is without basis of fact. Political Washington and scientific
Washington are almost as far apart as the poles. One is in constant
flux; the other is relatively permanent. One has its strongest ties
elsewhere ; the other is rooted deep locally. One is typically assertive ;
the other is deliberative. Political and scientific Washington have,
indeed, only one common ground — that of public service. Chiefs
of scientific bureaus come into contact with political leaders in setting
forth the results, purposes, and needs of their organizations, but the
Federal scientific investigator himself is seldom called from his labora-
tory, and then only because of his special knowledge of some problem
of public welfare or policy. These and other occasional contacts
with political life are of advantage to the scientist in broadening his
outlook on the needs of the people and they should give him a sounder
opinion in choosing a field of research than that held by his professional
colleague in private life.
The founding of the Coast Survey in 1816 marked the beginning
of the Federal scientific service, though some small grants for investi-
gations, chiefly explorations, were made in earlier years. For more
than half a century the growth of the service was very slow. Fifty years
ago, when the Philosophical Society of Washington was founded, it
had only 38 members, and during the succeeding decade, though it
remained, except for the Medical Society,'- the only local scientific
- Founded in 1819, with 21 members. The Anthropological Society was organized
in 1879, with 28 members.
78 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
organization, its membership increased to only about 200. It is
probable that during its early years the Philosophical Society included
in its membership all the scientists in Washington, and that most of
these were in the Government service.
In the time available I have been unable to learn accurately the
number of scientists now in the Federal service. There are some
forty-odd Government institutions devoted in whole or in part to
scientific work, and their employees number many thousands. That
only a small number of these should be classed as scientists goes with-
out saying, but the attempt at classification would not only necessitate
a close scrutiny of the duties of many individuals, but even then
the result reached would be a matter of personal opinion. By actual
count in the directories of the Washington Academy of Science, I
venture the opinion that the local societies included 600 Federal scien-
tists in 1910 and 770 in 1920. On the other hand, I am informed by
Dr. Robert M. Yerkes that in 1919 there was a total of 4,888 scientific
and technical employees in the Federal service. It is probably safe
to estimate that there are in all a thousand scientific investigators
in the Federal service at Washington. Some of the scientific bureaus
have much the larger part of their personnel stationed away from
Washington. It is therefore estimated that the Federal employees
who are making at least some contribution to science number about
fifteen hundred.
Though these figures are only approximations, they give a measure
of the enormous growth of the scientific service during the last fifty
years. This increase has indeed taken place chiefly during the present
generation. Before tracing the circumstances leading to the present
huge Federal scientific service, I wish to picture Washington as a
scientific center at a time antedating its enormous expansion.
The typical scientific bureau of a generation ago consisted of a
group of independent investigators studying problems chiefly of their
own choice and by their own methods. Organizations then centered
on the individual scientist, in contrast to the present practice, by which
the problem or the special field determines the administrative unit.
Devotion to science was the ideal, often to the exclusion of any thought
of public welfare, now accepted as the important duty of Federal
investigators. Indeed, there were some who boasted that the results
of their research could have no useful purpose. Applied science was
then so rudimentary that an investigator was perhaps justified in
holding that by advancing knowledge he was fully meeting his obliga-
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 79
tion to the public. Nevertheless, nearly all the bureaus, in theory at
least, were established to meet some material need, though in practice
this need was often lost sight of. Some executives appear to have
been willing to authorize researches without too careful a scrutiny of
the limitations imposed by law. The chief of a scientific bureau looked
upon the allocation of the annual grants of funds and a personal appeal
to Congress for increased appropriations as his principal administra-
tive duties and regarded them as disagreeable though necessary in-
terruptions to his own absorbing researches. Appropriations were
more often granted because of the personality of the bureau chief
than because of a recognized need of scientific inquiry.
By tradition the scientific bureaus were regarded as things apart
from the Federal administrative machinery and were subjected to
little interference. Though some heads of departments took pride in
directing research, most of them paid small heed to scientific bureaus,
deeming their work of only academic interest. In those days the
scientist, being seldom called into consultation on public affairs, was
largely left to his own devices. There was little pressure for his
results, for neither industry nor the public at large were vitally con-
cerned with them. A scientist's work room of that day was more
like a private study than, as now, a business office . Its tranquillity
was seldom disturbed by the rattle of the typewriter or the jingle of
the telephone bell. Stenographers were few, and many treatises were
laboriously written with pen, to the evident advantage of their diction.
Nor was the investigator greatly disturbed by routine matters, the
tremendous growth of which has been concomitant both with the
development of large organizations and with the increase in the de-
mands of the public for enlightenment on problems of applied science.
Fiscal regulations were as abundant then as now, but the marked
laxity of their enforcement in many scientific bureaus enabled the
investigator to evade those he regarded as irksome. The small
personnel in bureaus and even in departments called for few regulations
and restrictions. There being no civil-service law, each investigator,
in theory at least, was left untrammeled in his choice of assistants.
This condition made political appointments possible, and these were
by no means unknown in the service.
Many of the investigators were called to the Federal service be-
cause of their long recognized standing at the universities, and in
general there was a closer affiliation between the scientific service and
the institutions of learning than there is now. A considerable per-
80 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
centage of the appropriations for research were allotted to university
men and the grants being held to be subsidies for research, there was
little supervision of their use. This practice followed that of most
European countries, which maintained only skeleton governmental
scientific institutes and supported research chiefly by allotments to
individuals. It may be noted in passing that the exigencies of the
war led in part to abandonment of this policy in Europe and resulted
in a much greater centralization of research.
A generation ago few universities were able to train specialists,
and the young assistants usually had only a general scientific education,
though they had a better academic background than those of the
present. All expected to serve a long apprenticeship before they
launched out as independent investigators.
In early days of Federal science there was not only scant supervision
of the investigators but little scrutiny of the results they submitted
for pubUcation. The group leader was regarded as competent to
determine the validity of his conclusions, and the less experienced
assistant was not intrusted with independent investigations. Differ-
ences of opinion between scientists were left for them to settle between
themselves. Washington science not being held to be of practical
value, the public was indifferent whether this or that theory received
official sanction. Indeed, there was no such thing as an official
dictum, and the originator of a thesis was left to his own devices in
defending it in the public arena.
Some exceptions to the above statements should be noted. For
example, the Coast Survey, while holding to its long established
scientific ideals, was engaged in the very practical work of serving
the mariner by charting the shore lines. Again, the work of the
Weather Service could not be done with the loose administrative
methods that were common to most of the other bureaus. Its stricter
organization was no doubt due to its military control.
Living costs in Washington were very low, and the small salaries
sufficed to meet the requirements of the simple standards of that day.
A family with an income of $2,000 was then better off than one today
with $6,000. The corps of investigators was so small that, though
officially more independent than now, its members were professionally
and socially closer together. A large part of it assembled in the small
rooms of the Cosmos Club on Monday nights, where much of the co-
ordination of science took place under the inspiration of a mug of
beer and the smoke of a churchwarden pipe. The more formal
FEB, 19, 1922 brooks: The scientist in the federal service 81
discussions were reserved for the Philosophical Society, long the
meeting place of the investigators in all sciences who were not too
highly specialized to maintain a lively interest in the work of their
colleagues.
The atmosphere of Federal science during this early period may be
likened to that of a university, at present it resembles that of an
industrial establishment. The investigator had little cause to make
concessions to the public, either in choice of field or length of time
devoted to a problem. To him came conditions favorable to construc-
tive thinking and scholarly presentation. If there were some who
yielded to a certain soporific influence in their tranquil environment,
their lack of results was offset by the work of those who found in this
environment the opportunity for independent effort and great ac-
complishment.
The great changes wrought in the Federal scientific service during
the last generation were accomplished by gradual evolution, but this
was greatly accelerated during the present century. Long before,
however, the practical applications of science had greatly multiplied.
Federal bureaus had been much enlarged, and their scope had been
changed. Along with these changes had come closer control of the
investigator, together with a clearer recognition of both the spirit
and the letter of the law. The change from the individualistic to
collective method was indeed fully under way.
The improvement of business methods was most marked after 1906,
when the recommendations of the Keep Commission were introduced
as far as possible without legislative action. These recommendations
fairly revolutionized departmental business methods and were the
first decisive step toward eliminating Governmental red tape. The
Keep Commission, unlike most others having a similar purpose, was
made up entirely of men long experienced in the Federal service
and was therefore in a better position to introduce reforms than those
who were unfamiliar with the work of the departments.
Collective action by scientific service first crystallized when, because
of the needs of the conservation policy, the Federal investigators
undertook, by order of President Roosevelt, an immediate census of
national resources. Then, for the first time, nearly all branches of
Federal science acted with a common purpose and were asked for very
definite, practical, and above all quantitative data. This taking
account of stock by the trustees of the Nation revealed both the
strength and the weakness of Federal research as well as its great
82 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
utility to the Nation. One result was the promulgation of stricter
rules and more definite instructions and the placing of greater limita-
tions on the freedom of the individual. By far the more important
result was the realization by the higher Government officials of the
value of science in solving problems of national economics. This
realization has ever since been one of the most potent influences in
directing Federal research toward problems connected with the public
welfare.
Certain conditions that are peculiar to the Federal scientific service
have been noted; others will now be mentioned. Those noted have
played an important part in the evolution of Governmental research
during its century of growth from a single bureau with a few investi-
gators to two score institutions manned by more than a thousand
scientists. Far more important to this evolution and indeed an
integral part of it is the advance of science itself and a change both
in the type of the investigator and in the broadening of his ideals.
These changes are worldwide; they are not peculiar to the Federal
service. It will be well, therefore, to trace some of the factors in-
volved in the genesis of modern methods and ideals of research.
Three facts stand out clearly: First, science has become a pro-
fession— ^it is no longer an avocation of men engaged mainly in some
other calling; second, science has become organized and is not now
advanced solely by uncoordinated individual effort; third, science by
becoming more exact has become more useful. The transition from
the old to the new era has not been synchronous in all sciences. Medi-
cine was a profession long before the modern epoch of science. The
work of the astronomer and geodesist was professional, organized, and
useful long before that of the naturalist. It will be a matter of opinion
as to whether the three facts above set forth are chiefly the cause or the
effect of the progress of science. Until the investigator could give his
full time to research, progress could be made only by halting steps.
On the other hand, until industry found science useful not many
professional positions could be open to the investigator. Again,
the multiplication of scientific researches to meet the demands of
industry called for better organization, and this again has led to the
advance of science.
The professional scientist — that is, the scientist who gives his
entire time to investigation, is a comparatively new figure. A genera-
tion or two ago he hardly existed; anyone who undertook research
then had to support himself by teaching or by some occupation re-
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 83
mote from science. Even as late as the beginning of this century
opportunities to the scientist for professional employment were by
no means alluring. In contrast to this, not only are there now thou-
sands who, under public or private auspices, find a means of livelihood
in scientific work, but the demand for scientists exceeds the supply.
Every branch of investigation offers a career to the earnest student.
Scores of examinations are held for positions in the Federal scientific
service, and many others are offered by the States and the industries.
The student of the present day on choosing his career can weigh care-
fully the financial as well as the professional opportunities offered.
His predecessor had no financial motives, for the best he could expect
was only a bare living. In 1846, when Spencer Baird found his salary
had reached the dazzling sum of $400 a year, he felt that he could
well afford to get married.
In the old days a few great teachers passed their knowledge along to
small groups of enthusiastic disciples. Now the universities are
annually graduating scores of highly trained specialists, who are by
education far better fitted to advance science than those of a genera-
tion ago and who after a short apprenticeship can be trusted with
independent research. They supply the highly trained and brilliant
investigators that are so typical of the present era. On the other hand,
some of the products of the graduate schools bear the stamp of being
machine made. It sometimes happens that the new investigator is
the result of opportunities offered by a university, rather than of an
inspiration for a scientific career. A man's exhaustive knowledge of
the facts relating to some specialty is no measure of his ability as a
constructive thinker. A student may believe he has a call to science
when actually what appeals to him is simply the fact that science is
an honored profession and a career giving promise of employment.
At the time when the profession of the scientist was hardly existent,
the investigator was a product of natural selection and must have had
that God-given love of his subject for which no training can be sub-
stituted. Science was then not a profession but an obsession.
Berzelius is credited with the statement that he would probably
be the last man who could know all chemistry, meaning thereby that
the science had grown so large that it was becoming beyond the
grasp of a single mind. Since his day the naturalist has been sup-
planted by the botanist, zoologist, and geologist. These have given
way to the taxonomist, pathologist, ecologist, glaciologist, and paleon-
tologist, to name only a few of the present subdivisions of the older
84 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
professions. The end is not in sight, for as science becomes more
exact a still higher degree of specialization is certain. Now a scientist
may not even know the meaning of a word that describes the work of
a professional colleague.
The tendency of modern scientific education is to produce specialists
and not scholars. Advance of science must be effected by specializa-
tion, yet the question may be asked whether the investigator who can-
not see the forest for the trees is not too great a factor in research.
Unfortunately, the specialist is sometimes little more than the collector
of dull facts he cannot or will not interpret. In relation to their
facts some specialists may be likened to the Indian chief who, because
of a certain peculiarity, was called "Man-afraid-of-his-horses." Sweep-
ing generalizations in science are a thing of the past or of the ignorant ;
yet in spite of the overwhelming number of facts now available, there
is perhaps room for a little more boldness in their use.
There is danger at the present rate of accumulation that the
scientist may never overtake the continual inpouring of facts. When-
ever a research promises to bear the fruit of theory, a possible source
of new information may be revealed, and thus interpretation may
again be deferred. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Federal
service, now perhaps the largest storehouse of scientific facts in the
world, including many that are only shopworn. There is a tendency
in the service to neglect interpretation. Many Federal investigators
could well cease for a time to be collectors of new facts and devote
themselves exclusively to an understanding of facts already on file.
When any branch of science has been developed to the point that
adequate knowledge of it can no longer be held by an individual but
must be distributed through a group of investigators, how are its
larger problems to be solved? The answer evidently lies in coopera-
tive effort, without which that branch of science cannot continue to
progress. This brings me to the important question of the organiza-
tion of research.
Through countless centuries science was advanced by the devoted
investigator working alone, and it was during this individualistic
period that it took root in our own country. As science progressed
there was an increase in cooperation, which first took the form of
grouping of investigators at universities and museums and the founding
of scientific societies and periodicals. Gradually more orderly methods
of inquiry and later definite units of research were developed. The
evolution of research proceeded from individualistic to cooperative
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federai^ service 85
and finally to organized methods. The organization of research,
though long under way and hastened by the war, by no means covers
the whole field of science and indeed never can, for much of scientific
progress must always be individualistic.
Some of the physical scientists were the first to undertake collective
action. The astronomers and geodesists early recognized the neces-
sity of national and international cooperation, and later the meteorol-
ogists realized that their work could not be greatly advanced by the
individual. Still later men engaged in other physical sciences that
require long periods of continuing observation found the value of
organization. The natural sciences long lagged behind the exact
sciences in this movement, and even today much of their investigation
is essentially individualistic. Organization has now gone so far,
however, that we have come to think of scientific progress in terms
of institutions rather than of individuals.
One grave fault of organized science is that it leaves no place for
the amateur, who in the past has done so much useful work. The
amateur cannot now hope to compete in the fields occupied by large
institutions, with highly organized corps of professional investigators,
and in consequence, he is active only in some of the least organized
natural sciences. This is unfortunate, for many an amateur is as able
an investigator as the highly trained professional and may have an
even greater love of science. Science, indeed, originated with the
amateur, and until recently he was the chief instrument in its progress.
Now, however, he is being crowded out, and soon he may be as extinct
as the dodo.
The administration of scientific inquiry in large units originated in
the Federal service but has been greatly expanded under private
auspices. Whatever faults we may find in these colossal public and
private institutions, their all-important work in advancing science
cannot be denied. The mere fact of their great multiplication and
growth during the last two decades proves that they are meeting a
public need. This striking departure from the old methods of research
finds no parallel in the history of science, and the origin of its form of
administration must be sought in the business world. The government
of these institutions, like that of a corporation, includes a board of
directors, represented by Congress or by trustees, that approves the
general plan of operations but leaves details to an executive who may
or may not have a cabinet of advisors. Though the methods of
conducting such institutions vary in detail, their basal principle is
86 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
essentially autocratic, and their success can be taken as evidence that
a wise and benevolent autocracy is a better instrument to advance
knowledge than a democracy. Indeed, this form of administering
research finds a close parallel in the government of our universities.
It appears, therefore, that the centralization of authority in learned
institutions, be they educational or investigative, is following a natural
law of evolution and has not been arbitrarily superimposed on science,
as some believe. Moreover, it is but one manifestation of the very
general national tendency toward autocratic administration of both
public and private affairs.
As institutional research is the very keynote of modern science
and dominates Federal inquiry, it will be well to scrutinize its methods
and to consider its merits and demerits. Research institutions differ
greatly in their scope and objectives, but the advance of some branch
of science is the common aim of all. Their chief differences lie in the
field of investigation chosen, and this is determined principally by the
terms of their financial support. A few institutions are entirely un-
trammeled in the selection of problems, but the great majority must
give preference to this or that phase of science. The work of the
Federal bureaus is very definitely controlled by law, and most of them
are compelled to give first heed to industrial problems. There are
also private endowments, like those made for medical research, whose
principal purpose is to investigate problems of public welfare. Much
of the investigation of industrial problems is conducted under private
auspices. This work includes that done by institutions whose pur-
pose is to advance the common interests of certain industries, but
much the larger part of it is done to gain information that will be of
direct profit to those who are furnishing the financial support. In
an attempt to classify research institutions, two groups can be recog-
nized. One group will include all institutions whose investigators
are made directly for the public benefit; the other will include those
whose investigations are made for private profit. Some measure of
the public appreciation of science could be had if the ratio were known
between the expenditures made for these two classes of investigations.
I venture the opinion that the annual disbursements for commercial
research far exceed those for public research.
Nearly all research is supported by trust funds, and this fact had
led both public and private institutions to establish very definite regula-
tions controlling expenditures. There are, indeed, some who appear
to hold that the scientific ideals of an investigator are lowered if he
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 87
is called upon to follow good administrative methods. Yet, it is
evident that unless expenditures for research are made on sound
business principles the confidence of the public will be lost and finan-
cial support will fail.
It may not be denied that the recent progress in science has been
very largely the work of the modern research institutions. The mere
massing of investigators is in itself a benefit, for it produces a certain
amount of attrition that tends to remove those bumps of self-esteem
which are not unknown among scientists. Moreover, a large institu-
tion gives a serious and professional atmosphere to the investigator
that is not without great advantages, though, as already pointed out,
it has some drawbacks. The more direct benefits to science of or-
ganized investigation are self-evident. Many problems can be solved
only by the cooperative effort of investigators in several specialized
fields. The successful solution of others depends on long-continued
and widespread observations that are beyond the power of any in-
dividual. Moreover, researches that involve large expenditures
should obviously not be dependent on any one person. Another
advantage of institutional oyer scattered investigation is economy of
administration .
It is not difficult to recognize weakness in the basal principle of
organized research. Its trend is toward uniformity and the sub-
ordination of the individual in the interest of the whole. In theory
at least each investigator of an institution is but a cog in the great
machine of collective effort, yet it is by no means certain that collective
is superior to individual mental effort in the production of constructive
thought, without which research amounts only to the collection of
facts. Therefore, organized research, if it is to advance science, must
ever avoid the pitfall of drab uniformity in both effort and result if
it is to escape mediocrity. This danger may be avoided by the
brilliant executive, who can judge to a nicety just how far individuality
may be encouraged without endangering results that are to be attained
only by coordination.
Good administration will seek to develop the individual scientist,
whatever may be his capacity. In the enunciation of plans for re-
search it is sometimes tacitly assumed that all investigators are of the
same general type as the best. Yet most scientific work will always
be done by men of average capacity, and good collective results can
be achieved only by assigning to each man the task he is best fitted
to perform. Humiliating as it may be to our professional pride,
88 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
most scientists are and must remain hewers of wood and drawers of
water, and a proper organization of research will take due account
of this fact.
In former days each investigator advanced science by interpreting
facts he had himself ascertained. In contrast to this, there are now
many problems whose solution depends on the collection of so large a
number of precise facts that the task is far beyond the capacity of
the individual observer. This condition has developed the obser-
vational type of scientist, a man who is both highly trained and makes
an enormous contribution to knowledge and whose very lack of marked
mental independence makes him all the more valuable as an observer
and recorder. The observational investigator obtains his best op-
portunities in a closely administered institution. This is also true
of the investigators of minor problems of science, whose best results
will be achieved under close supervision. On the other hand, the
scientist of marked individuality may not obtain the best results
under the conditions of organized research. The rare scientific genius,
however, needs no special environment to reach his highest develop-
ment, for he cannot be suppressed.
With this classification of investigators it will be evident that the
vast majority will do better work as members of an organization than
as individuals, and this alone is a very strong argument for institutional
research. Such a conclusion, however, postulates good adminis-
tration of science, some of the difficulties of which may be considered.
A director of research should have the qualities of the impresario,,
for the scientist, like the artist, is temperamental and refuses to be
cast* in the common mold. Though originality of thought must be
cultivated in every scientific institution, there is a constant danger of
its overproduction. A scientist may apply his originality not only to
research but also to financial and routine matters, at a serious loss
of efficiency. It is indeed astounding how many unnecessary diffi-
culties a brilliant investigator can create by ignoring simple business
methods.
Many scientists have for years groaned under the Federal system
of accounting, without ever understanding its basal principle. Govern-
ment disbursement is, indeed, complex and growing needlessly more
so, but difficulties come chiefly to executives and professional ac-
countants; the average investigator meets only its simplest forms..
The days are past when the efficiency of a Federal bureau was gaged
by the perfection of its vouchers, and although disbursements must
FBB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 89
comply with the law, they are not now held to be an end but only a
means to an end.
Many a scientist, however, still believes that he has been singled
out as of proved dishonesty because some official has directed his atten-
tion to an infraction of jthe law. He does not see either that close regula-
tion of Federal disbursements aggregating billions of dollars is neces-
sary or that the legal safeguards must apply to small as well as to large
transactions. Indeed, many scientists are ignorant of the principle
of all fiscal regulations, namely, that the law holds all Government
moneys to be trust funds. The law also provides that every trustee
must be able at all times to submit documentary proof that he has
not stolen the funds in his custodianship. Therefore, upon every
Federal employee who handles public funds or involves the Govern-
ment in liabilities rests the burden of proof that his trusteeship has
been honestly administered. Evidently all purchases are governed
by the same principle, and the purpose of competitive bids is to pre-
vent dishonest connivance between the seller and the Government
agent.
Certain scientists regard the limitations placed on their fiscal
operations as a personal insult and an attempt by a bureau chief to
assert his authority. To them fiscal regulations have no purpose
except to hamper research, and they never come to understand that a
regulation is nothing but an interpretation of the law. If these men
would master the basal principle of Federal accounting and the simple
methods they are called upon to use they could command more time
for their own work.
The fiscal regulations are particularly irksome to those whp re-
member the time when they were but loosely enforced in the scientific
bureaus. In those good old days scientists and sometimes even bureau
chiefs gloried in successful attempts to evade the law, or in what
may be termed "putting one over." Such practices resulted only
in more stringent laws and interpretations. It is quite likely that
Federal auditors have blacklisted individuals and even certain bureaus
that have been found attempting to evade the law, and that their
vouchers receive a specially searching scrutiny.
Yet there is certainly room for improvement in the laws governing
Federal disbursements, as for example, in the restriction placed on
the use of automobiles. It seems beyond human knowledge to
understand why the use of horse-drawn vehicles is unlimited, while
that of automobiles is closely restricted. It is as if Federal trans-
90 JOURNAL Olf THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
portation should be effected only by stage coach and canal boat
instead of by railroad. But the origin of this anachronism is clearly
traceable to some abuse in the employment of official automobiles
for private use. This is an example of an ill-advised law enacted
because of a breach of trust by some individual or small number of
individuals.
It is also hard to understand why the Federal scientist should be
penalized when traveling on official business by not being reimbursed
for a part of his expenses. It would be equally logical to force him tO'
contribute toward the cost of renting or heating his laboratory. The
law limiting the amount paid for subsistence was passed because a
former commission indirectly augmented the salaries of its professional
corps by allowing a large per diem for subsistence, irrespective of
whether the men were working at the home office or in the field.
Unfortunately, Congress, when it uncovers such an exceptional
abuse, is wont to believe that the abuse is general and enacts sweeping
statutes, whose real purpose is to rectify the action of a few.
Although there is a growing tendency to increase the restrictions
on Federal disbursements, yet we can comfort ourselves with the
thought that both efficiency and economy are now included in the war
cry. Probably the modification of less than a dozen statutes would
suffice to do away with the obstacles that prevent Government work
being carried on efficiently and therefore economically. It is a curious
fact that most reformers have yet to discover that much of the pro-
verbial Government red tape has been eliminated and that much of
what is left is imposed by law and not by tradition or executive order.
A private institution of research supported by trust funds is also
under the obligation to provide definite regulations to control ex-
penditures. These regulations can, however, be framed to meet its
special needs for it is not, like a Federal bureau, a very small part of
a colossal organization charged with the disbursement of huge trust
funds. The bureau chief must enforce the law as he finds it, even
though he knows full well that it decreases the efficiency of his own
organization.
I take it that all will agree that the first test of good administration
of science will lie in the choice of investigators to do the work. In
this matter the endowed institutions have a great advantage over
those of the Government, in being able, in a measure at least, to adjust
their salaries to meet competition in the commercial world. On
the other hand, some will be attracted to the Federal service because
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 91
•
of the opportunities that it gives of being of direct human benefit.
With these the call of science is no stronger than the call to aid their
fellowman.
Positions in newly established institutions are in general eagerly
sought, because of their promise to yield opportunities in untrodden
fields. As a consequence the scientific personnel of such institutions
will be of the highest type. These new organizations, moreover,
are unhampered by the inclusion of investigators who have not ful-
filled the promise of their earlier years. Unfortunately, the psycholo-
gist has not yet given us a formula by which the hundredth man can
be definitely selected. Moreover, even though he may be found, a
transfer to a new environment may produce an atrophy of his mind,
for a scientist of a certain type seems to require the stimulus of ob-
stacles to do his best work, and the easier his path the less productive
his brain.
If no errors are made in the choice of investigators, the very in-
dependence of thought that characterizes the best investigators will
in itself make difficulties for the executive head of an institution. He
must foster individuality, yet he must mold the whole to produce
collective results. The most valuable investigator may be the very
one who most strongly resents any interference with his personal
activities. Even Federal scientists, sometimes pictured as a set of
brow-beaten investigators who dare not call their souls their own, are
in truth most strongly independent. Their faults and difficulties
have been clearly portrayed, but little has been said of their duties
and responsibilities.
The scientist who joins the Federal service assumes other very defi-
nite obligations than those expressed in his oath of office emphasizing
the defense of the constitution. Generations of scientists may pass
who are never called upon to defend the constitution, but the respon-
sibility to obey both the spirit and the letter of the law is always with
them. Even more binding is the moral obligation to advance the
interests of the people under whose bounty they are working. This
implies, first and foremost, that they work for the truth and nothing
but the truth, for without this ideal both pure science and applied
science are but shams. These obligations have been fully lived up to
by most Federal investigators. A few attempts have been made to
gain popularity by premature announcements of assumed epoch-
making discoveries, but these, like other short circuits, led to quick
disaster. Some Federal investigators feel their responsibilities so
92 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
keenly as to err on the other extreme and become lax in the duty of
giving any returns to the public.
The obligation imposed on the Federal scientist often runs counter
to his personal ambitions. He chafes under a condition, imposed by
law or by public need, forcing him to abandon some favorite field of
research for one of less interest. It makes his unsought task no easier
if, as sometimes happens, a colleague with only a rudimentary con-
ception of public duty implies that he has abandoned pure science
for some more popular field.
Every administrator of research finds his chief problem in the
control of his scientific personnel. To some this problem appears
most simple and involves only the giving of financial support to the
master mind and then allowing it to wander whither it will. Such
a course, however, will not lead to the solution of a cooperative problem.
Moreover, the master mind, if left to its own devices, may wander
entirely off the premises. The task of the executive is to harmonize
the work of a group of strongly individualistic investigators, whose
tendency is centrifugal rather than centripetal. Success will be
achieved by a proper balance between individualistic and cooperative
inquiry. There is the danger, on the one hand, of discouraging origi-
nality of thought, and on the other, of failing to maintain the necessary
unity of purpose.
The executive in the Federal scientific service stands between the
horns of a dilemma. If his bureau is not so organized as to provide
very definite control of the work of the individual investigator he may
fail to achieve the results demanded by the terms of his grants. If
his organization is such that it does not give full play to constructive
thought by the individual investigator he will accomplish little to
advance his science. He must constantly strive to have his adminis-
trative machinery sufficiently elastic to develop the best mental work
possible by each of his scientific staff. At the same time he must not
ignore his obligation to give results to the public. Some investigators
need constant spurring to obtain results; others need restraint, for
their productions come so fast as to raise the suspicion that they may
not be sound. Although the premature announcement of conclu-
sions meets with quick punishment, the procrastinator often receives
undue credit among his colleagues from the very fact that he has failed
to make the evidence of his attainments public. Indeed, he often
hampers the advance of science by occupying a field to the exclusion of
others and by discouraging financial support for the organization
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 93
to which he belongs. If he is in the Federal service, his chief bears
the moral responsibility for the expenditure of public funds on in-
vestigations that have come to naught. Not all investigators sense
the moral responsibility for a return from researches supported by
trust funds. The exceptions do not appear to realize that the final
justification of any project is measured only the results achieved.
There will be differences of opinion as to whether scientific work in
this or that field is yielding results commensurate with the outlay
made for it, but the value of the great mass product of Federal science
cannot be denied. In this day, when all Government expenditures
are being closely scrutinized, the scientific bureaus can calmly welcome
the fiercest Hght of publicity. I am sure that the unprejudiced ex-
aminer of public business will concede that the product of Government
science is worth more than it cost and that no private corporation
could obtain equal returns from the same expenditure. This fact
in itself is proof of the high grade of the personnel in the scientific
service. The thousand men engaged in this work include men of
various types, and if it becomes necessary to record the faults of a
few of them, these few are the exceptions — their faults do not character-
ize the group as a whole.
The delay in making public the results of research is one of the
evils of the Federal service, but for this the scientist and the bureau
are only in part responsible. Yet a considerable part of the blame
rests upon the scientist himself, and his delinquencies may be due
to his lack of certain mental, not to say moral qualities. The delin-
quents are of several types, and they include the investigator with a
brilliant mind, which, however, is so undisciplined that it cannot be
made to formulate conclusions. A very small percentage of the
delays are chargeable to lack of a sense of moral obligation. This
lack is shown by the dilettante type of investigator, who flits from
one problem to another and seems to think that he fulfills all obligations
if he simply remains on the Government payroll. Most often, how-
ever, the procrastinator is the hardest working of men, and his un-
willingness to put forth conclusions is due to his fear of omitting some
detail or failing to fully test some theory. We must respect such a
seeker of truth, yet a part of his fault may lie in a certain conceit
which induces him to believe that his results are so epoch-making
that he trembles for the consequences to the Nation if they should be
announced prematurely. It sometimes happens that before he has
set the keystone of the arch that forms his magnum opus its founda-
94 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
tions have been undermined by some colleague, and the whole structure
tumbles, becoming little more than a vast collection of misinterpreted
facts. There is indeed always the danger that if the investigator
withholds the results of an inquiry too long he will become "stale"
on it before he has formulated his conclusions. Then the elaborate
report may be only a jumble of facts whose interpretation must be
left to others. It may even happen that the results of years of scienti-
fic research are entirely lost by the death of a dilatory scientist. It
is a matter of record that every great scientist leaves a series of mile-
stones that mark his progress, and when he attains the goal he need
do little more than prepare a final summation of what has already
been fully published to the world. Therefore, if no results from an
elaborate research are announced the executive has a right to the
suspicion that there will be none. To him then comes the important
decision whether to continue expenditures on the project or to write
it off in the profit and loss account. If he continues the work and
nothing comes of it he has been unfaithful to his trust ; if he stops the
work there is always the danger that science and the people may be
the loser.
Another problem in personnel is presented by the scientist who is
as quick as a hair trigger in publication. He boldly rushes into
publicity where the more experienced investigator fears to tread and,
though he may be endowed with a certain superficial brilliancy, he is
too impatient to carry his researches through to the end of establishing
conclusions. His contributions may be likened to skyrockets— they
illuminate the scientific landscape for a moment only to fall to earth
and leave us in darkness. Such men are sometimes the pests of scienti-
fic literature, and some of them bury the results of their unfinished
researches in huge, soon-forgotten tombs. If they gain admission to
Government publications they may temporarily win undeserved
reputations by the very size and elaborateness of their memoirs, though
these may be the work of the pen rather than of the brain.
The secret of good administration in science, as in other affairs,
is to make the best use of the personnel available. Experience shows
that it is possible to guide the able investigator, but he cannot be
forced to follow set paths. He has, moreover, the tactical advantage
of not being "enlisted for the duration of the war," and he can probably
obtain a letter livelihood in commercial work. Some of the most
obstreperous members of the Federal scientific corps possess qualities
that are most valuable to science and to the public service. If the
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 95
great majority of the Federal scientists were not always ready to do
more than their full share in meeting their obligations to the public,
the task of administering Government science would truly be hope-
less. An executive who is taken into the public service from the
business world and who has adopted the modern standards of effi-
ciency would see no difficulties in administering research, for he would
meet them by riding rough-shod over all scientists. Research, would
be so organized that birds who can sing and won't sing would be made
to sing. Every cog in the administrative machine would be com-
pelled to do its proper work or make way for another. This plan does
not make any allowance for the individual, nor for the fact that the
brain cannot be forced to originate — that it cannot be thrown into
gear by moving a lever. You cannot feed brains into a hopper and,
by applying a sufficient number of mental impacts to your machine,
produce a smooth-running new thought at the outlet.
Though organization and personnel are of fundamental importance
to every research institution, yet the real efficiency of any such insti-
tution in advancing science will be determined largely by its choice
of fields. The sternest critics of Federal bureaus have dwelt on errors
in the selecJ:ion of problems. Many of these critics hold that the pref-
erence for economic problems indicates both a lack of thoroughness
in research and an abasement of scientific ideals. It is strange that
no such criticisms have been made of the institutes of medical re-
search, though their avowed purpose, like that of the Federal scienti-
fic bureaus, is to better the welfare of mankind. The high sources
of some of these criticisms justify their consideration.
Every constructive criticism of the service should be welcomed,
if only because it is well to see ourselves as others see us, but before
its true value can be gaged it must receive proper correction for the
personal equation of the critic. Most of those who enumerate the
faults of scientific bureaus fail to distinguish between the faults due
to law and those due to policy. Every Federal scientist recognizes
the need for certain changes in law, but he is powerless to bring them
about.
Meanwhile Federal scientists should not ignore the ominous signs
that the skeleton in the closet of Federal research may at any time be
exposed to public view — ^that the deceptive Government investigator
may be unmasked. Already some critics have intimated that Federal
science, though it may delude unthinking people, is not true research
but something else not yet well defined. Classifications of research
96 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
institutions have also been made in which all Federal investigations
are ignored. To the slur implied by this omission no reply is possible
and the thousand or more Government scientists can but bow their
heads in shame in the presence of those to whom the great light has
come.
Though outwardly the Government investigators may remain
calm in the face of the occasional storm of criticism that blows about
their heads, yet often they find some note that harmonizes with their
own feelings. Is there anyone in the rank and file of Federal scientists
who has not at least one pet grievance and is not convinced that,
if he were in charge of certain work, he could soon abolish some crying
evil? Such grievances, though various, are most often, for lack of
better definition, charged to bureaucracy. The wrong may have
been committed by some cold-blooded auditor who, in enforcing the
law, has blocked the progress of science by eliminating an item from
an expense account. An investigator whose work is far in arrears
may have found his chief very unsympathetic. It may be that the
publication of some monumental treatise has been postponed for lack
of funds. Again, official indorsement may have been denied for
some pet hypothesis that, if only it prove true, will revolutionize
science. It may be that a lack of funds forces an investigator out of
his favorite field. The fault may be in a law by which the work of a
bureau is made to include some activities that an investigator believes
to lie outside of its proper scope.
The charge frequently made that the scientific service is employed
chiefly on problems whose solution will directly contribute to the
welfare of the Nation may not be denied. If this were not true the
bureau chief would be a derelict in his duties to the public as well as
a violator of law. The command that research be directed toward
material ends is incorporated in the organic or appropriation acts of
nearly every Federal scientific bureau.^ For example, both the
Coast Survey and the Naval Observatory owe their origin to the
demands of the merchant marine and the Navy. The Geological
Survey was established primarily to help to develop the country's
mineral wealth and to evaluate the public domain. The needs of
industry were met by the establishment of the Bureau of Standards
2 The Bureau of American Ethnology appears to be an exception. The appropriation
for the National Museum, made originally for the custodianship of Government property,
can be said to have for its purpose the education of the people. The Smithsonian Insti-
tution is supported by a private endowment and is therefore an exception among Govern-
ment institutions.
JPEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 97
and the Bureau of Mines. Again, the demands of the farmers led to
the setting up of scientific work in the Department of Agriculture.
The value of a better knowledge of commercial geography, because of
our expanding foreign trade, has recently been recognized in the policy
of the Government.
There is a tendency to give the entire credit for the establishment
of this or that scientific bureau to the genius and persistency of one
man. Thus, Hassler is rightly associated with the founding of both
the Coast Survey and the Naval Observatory, Ellsworth with the
improvement of agriculture by Federal agencies, and King and Powell
with the organization of Federal geologic surveys. Many other ex-
amples of the influence of certain men on the founding of the younger
bureaus could be cited. Government science owes much to the broad
concepts of these pioneers, but it must not be overlooked that they
would have been powerless to accomplish their work if the conditions
had not been favorable. Recognition by the Federal Government
of the need of Government scientific investigation in any particular
field is based on certain premises. First, the science must have made
sufiicient progress to give assurance that the results of the work to be
done will in some way promote the general welfare. It must there-
fore have passed beyond the realm of speculation, and its results must
be concrete rather than abstract. Second, the industry it is expected
to benefit must be of enough national importance to create a wide
demand for the results of the research.
In an absolute monarchy this or that investigation may be ordered
for the mere sake of advancing knowledge, but in a representative
government the argument for research must include very definite
evidence that the people will be directly benefited by it. Once an
investigation is established and concrete and practical results are
obtained, plans for extending the research to more basal problems
often receive support.
The sharp distinction attempted by some between investigations
of purely academic problems, on the one hand, and investigations
of problems of industrial and public welfare, on the other, needs con-
sideration. I hold that this arbitrary division of scientific investigation
has caused much confusion of thought. It is, indeed, unfortunate
that no better designations have been found for these fields of inquiry
than "pure" and "applied." If one is "pure" it would seem that the
other must be "impure." If, again, research that is directed toward
aiding industry is called "practical," as it has been, it would seem to
98 JOURNAL OF THS WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
follow that all other science is impractical, a conclusion that will
hardly satisfy its devotees. In making such a distinction it should
be remembered that there is often a quick transfer of the results of
pure science to the category of applied science. A scientific product
so "pure" that it will stand the most searching "tubercular test"
may be snatched for "applied science" before it has been fairly de-
livered at the doorstep of the consumer. If the exact meaning of the
words is retained, applied science, or, indeed, we should say science
applied to industry, must be restricted to the work of the technician
and inventor who uses a scientific principle for some practical purpose.
The principle may be the result of an inquiry either by an investigator
whose only motive was to determine the law itself or by one who fore-
saw its possible practical use. The condition remains the same
whether it is the application of the simpler laws of mechanics in the
making of the formerly very useful device called a beer stopper or the
application of the laws of physics in the building of a tide-predicting
machine.
The difficulty of accurately defining pure science as distinct from
applied science leads to the suspicion that there is really no basal
difference between the two. No one can doubt the "purity" of in-
quiries into the laws of terrestrial magnetism, yet their practical value
to the surveyor and the navigator cannot be questioned. A geologic
map is clearly a contribution to pure science, yet who can foresee to
what base use it may be put by the prospector? The results of any
given research may be classified as to the validity of the conclusions,
as to the value of the results to science, as to the ability of the in-
vestigator, and as to the thoroughness of the methods employed;
but the scientist's motive for the research affords no logical basis for
assigning it either to pure or to applied science.
Illogical as these terms may be, however, a lack of originality to
invent new ones forces me to use them. In the commonly accepted
phraseology, then, the term pure science includes nearly all university
research and that of many endowed scientific institutions, and the
term applied science includes researches that are avowedly devoted to
industry supported by private funds, and also those of the great
medical research institutions. The Federal scientific service is, how-
ever, the great stronghold of applied science, though it includes some
researches, like those of the Smithsonian Institution, that must be
classed as pure science.
Kelvin has said that "no great law in natural philosophy has been
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 99
discovered for its practical application." Yet he himself was one
of the great users of science in practical affairs. Notwithstanding
opinions to the contrary, there is almost overwhelming evidence that
science has gained by its very marked drift toward material problems.
It is certain that the vast sums now devoted to research are available
because of the demands of industry. If investigations made for
material ends do not advance science, we must grant that its progress
is due to less than 10 per cent of present-day research.
It is sometimes intimated that the investigator working in economical
fields has lower ideals than one who is employed in pure science. There
is, indeed, no definite measure of man's ideal, but perhaps the best
measure can be found in the unselfishness of his purpose. The scien-
tist who is employed on a self-chosen problem and who is perhaps
working in an ideal environment and with adequate financial support
does not necessarily have higher ideals than one whose path lies in a
less interesting field or one whose ultimate purpose is to improve the
conditions of human life. The average investigator of the Federal
service makes little parade of the motive of science for science's sake,
yet his love of truth is no less than that of his colleague from the
university of other endowed institution.
Another fallacy is the contention that pure science as contrasted
with applied science leads to more thorough investigations. Yet
the master mind will ultimately reach the basal principles of his
problem, whether his researches are made in pure or in applied science.
Any difference between the work of the investigations in these two
fields is, indeed, solely a matter of mental equipment and bears no
fixed relation to the line of approach. Many scientists have not the
brain power to delve far below the surface and hence must remain
cataloguers of facts who here and there reach a valuable general de-
duction. Some of this class, indeed, find a temporary abode in the
realm of speculation, and the more academic their problem the longer
they remain in that realm. If, however, their speculations relate to
fields that touch human needs their sojourn in that high yet misty at-
mosphere is likely to be quickly terminated. Some materially minded
man, mistaking their chaff for wheat, may make a practical applica-
tion of some high-spun theory, with resulting disaster. No surer test
of the validity of many a scientific hypothesis may be found than its
practical application. Therefore, the scientist who is working with
an eye to practical results is likely to weight his evidence more care-
fully than the one whose pronouncements are of purely academic
100 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
interest. In other words, if an investigator has the necessary brain
power the fact that his researches are directed toward the solution of a
practical problem will not prevent his reaching the very fundamentals.
Moreover, the large majority of investigators are likely to be more
accurate in their inquiries if the results are to be subjected to the acid
test of industrial use.
Under the stimulus of industry every crumb of scientific knowledge
is seized with avidity, and there is always danger of premature an-
nouncement of results. An investigator more anxious to obtain the
plaudits of the- public than to test the soundness of a theory may
yield to this temptation. This has happened in the Federal service
with the connivance of some bureau that hoped to receive support
because of spectacular announcements rather than because of thorough
work. The evil cures itself, for the punishment will be quick and
drastic.
Some critics hold that the ideals of the investigator will be lower
if his research is directed toward the solution of industrial problems.
These critics are strangers to the inspiration that comes from hope
of rendering service to the people. Most great inventors must have
felt the same stimulus, even though they are generally credited with
only the motive of gain. The sympathy of the people gives an in-
spiration to the investigator which is not exceeded by the expectation
of advancing scientific knowledge alone.
"Science for science's sake" is sometimes used to express the highest
ideal of the investigator. The essence of this borrowed phrase is
simply love of truth, to which every scientist must always be loyal.
Scientific ideals are not in danger because research may be directed
to supplying the material needs of the Nation. The real danger lies
in the investigator who, while parading his love of science, in reality
makes this only secondary to his desire for self-aggrandizement.
It is a measure of our high scientific standards that some of the best
opportunities for research come to those by whom they are well
deserved, but the greater number of scientists must "carry on" under
conditions as they find them, and perhaps even greater honor than
that accorded to the favored ones is due to him who goes forward on
a path strewn with difficulties. Science is not commercialized when
it is used for practical ends ; only when the investigator is working prin-
cipally for his own profit. Yet we should not judge harshly those who
have been driven by threatened bankruptcy to leave their laboratories
and their professorial chairs for commercial life. This course is not
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 101
the fault of the individual; it is the result of the failure of the people
to appreciate the true value of the work of the investigator.
The attempt is sometimes made to classify scientists not by their
achievements but by their environment. The result is as artificial
as to classify them by the number of capital letters they have the
right to print after their names. Though scientific leaders have
generally received recognition by well-earned honors, the tuft hunter
is not unknown even among scientists. An honor conferred on such
a one evidently proves nothing but success achieved in a very special-
ized field. This condition is unavoidable, and it in no sense detracts
from the dignity of the honor rolls of learned institutions. It gives,
however, an indication of the danger of any measure of merit except
that of accomplishment.
The greatest scientists come from those whose love of truth impels
them to make every necessary sacrifice to advance knowledge, and
if by so doing they also better the condition of mankind they deserve
all the more honor. Their devotion to science is too apparent to need
shouting from the housetops, nor does its purity require the stamp
of any registered brand. Such investigators evaluate the work of
their colleagues by results and not by hair-splitting distinctions be-
tween pure and applied science. They know nothing about that
rarified atmosphere that is so pure that it might be deadly to the
Federal scientist if by accident he should be permitted to breathe it.
The Federal bureau chief who devotes the resources over which
he has control to some urgent problem of public welfare is sometimes
charged with truckling to popularity. This charge is occasionally
just, but there are enough examples of the unpopular side of a contro-
versy being taken solely from motives of public duty to prove that
it is not a general rule. Indeed, many an executive has with deep
regret turned from some important and attractive field of research
solely because of a conscientious interpretation of the law.
The resources of the Federal bureaus, though considerable in the
aggregate, are always inadequate to cover their fields of science.
A choice must therefore be made among many problems, and this
choice will be guided by the wants of the people. The selection of
the field of inquiry by a Federal executive may be likened to that
made by the explorer of a new land . In the interest of broad knowledge
and by personal preference the explorer may first essay the precipitous
and difficult slopes of its highest peak. He may hold that the wide
view obtained from the summit will so greatly advance knowledge as
102 JOURNAL OF TH:e WASHINGTON ACADEIMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
to fully justify the time and money necessary for the project. On
the other hand, he may reflect that the attempt to scale the peak has
no assurance of success until the foothills have been searched out and
routes of approach discovered. Then, again, he may remember that
his first object is to discover regions suitable for the abode of men.
Because of these considerations he must decide to begin his exploration
in areas of lesser relief and thus make his work of immediate benefit
to the people. Just so the Federal investigator, in the performance
of his public duty, must give preference to those fields of research
that directly benefit the mass of the people he serves.
I have invited your attention to some of the adverse opinions on
the policies of Federal research. Each of you will accept or reject
them according to his own lights, yet they deserve earnest considera-
tion by every American scientist. If those in the Federal service are
not doing their share to advance science they are not living up to their
trust. If those out of the service are convinced of this they too have
a public duty to perform. Be this as it may, there is another and
very serious aspect of the matter. The whole spirit of American science
today is one of cooperation. To promote this spirit the time of many
eminent men and considerable funds are being expended. If the
large body of investigators in the Federal service are unjustly charged
with lower ideals than those in private employment a serious schism
will develop in American science that cannot be healed by the ap-
pointment of committees.
Though we may agree that the general policy of the scientific
service is sound, yet we must admit that there are tendencies that
should be checked. One of these is the drift toward technology.
Many Federal institutions are charged by law with both scientific
and technologic investigations, and the two fields cannot always be
definitely separated. Yet there is danger that researches into the
fundamental laws of science be neglected, though these laws must
obviously be learned before they can be applied to industry. Nearly
all Federal investigators are pressed for results, and consequently
they have a natural tendency to give preference to the smaller problems
— those that do not consume too much time. Some of the problems
thus chosen might well be left to industry, and the funds devoted to
searching out the more fundamental principles.
Perhaps the most crying evil in the service is the endeavor to ac-
complish too much. Our vast area and our complex industries lead
to demands that cannot be met with the resources available. The
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 103
attempt to cover too wide a field is the result in part of general policy
and in part of the ambitions of the investigator. The result of this
attempt is that most of the conscientious workers in the Federal
service are overburdened. It is clear that nearly every bureau is
undermanned for the tasks it undertakes., especially now that so many
of the investigators are newcomers. Much of the work is carried for-
ward by the wheel-horse investigator, whose progress is slow and steady
and whose load is constantly increasing, sometimes almost to the
breaking point. The more brilliant but often eccentric scientist,
riding on top of the load, may be employed chiefly in pyrotechnic
displays which, dazzling as they may be, do little to carry forward the
burden. It is the wheel-horse scientist who needs relief and more
opportunity for constructive thought.
It is often forgotten that the scientist should disseminate as well
as increase human knowledge, and if his work to this end is measured
by results the American man of science has much neglected his duty.
I venture the opinion that there is today relatively less popular know-
ledge of science and less interest in its methods and achievements
than there was a generation ago. The Constitution provided that
Congress could advance science by enacting laws for granting patents.
This was one hundred and thirty-four years ago, when the only con-
cept of scientific investigation was afforded by the work of the inventor.
Yet to a large part of our people research and invention are still
synonymous terms, and even among those who are well educated
there are many who conceive of research as a kind of hocus-pocus
that results in brilliant discovery. A scientific genius, they believe,
retires to his laboratory with pad and pencil, to emerge twenty-four
hours later hungry but triumphant. Much periodical literature that
is ostensibly devoted to disseminating science among the people is
given over to descriptions of inventions, chiefly of the simplest type,
with no discussion of the principles involved.
The lack of popular knowledge of science is, I hold, directly due to
the form in which science is presented. It has been found easier to
multiply specialized technical vocabularies than to express results
in clear and precise English. We have followed too blindly the Ger-
man scientists, who with all their thoroughness seldom elucidate prin-
ciples either clearly or forcibly. They have invented that wonderful
word "allgemeinwissenschaftlichverstandlichkeit," though few of them
have had occasion to use it. The German has the advantage of a
language that may be written in an accepted form and yet be com-
104 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
paratively incomprehensible, and this without even recourse to a
specially invented jargon. Some American investigators seem to
agree with one school of German thought, holding that science is for
the chosen few and that the mass of the people must take scientific
orders rather than explanations. Indeed, we are not altogether free
from scientific snobbery, by which the results of research are held to
be sacred to the elect.
Perhaps the greatest need of the average American scientist of the
present day is to learn to write clear English. How can we hope that
the people will respect and support science if we give them its message
in words that they cannot understand? The seriousness of the
situation is brought home by the fact that scientists themselves often
cannot understand the expositions of their colleagues. If American
investigators are to abandon the use of our common tongue, we must
needs invent a scientific Esperanto. What we may call the stenog-
raphy of science, expressed by the vocabulary of the specialist, the
formula of the chemist, and the equations of the mathematician, is
necessary, yet the masters of scientific exposition have been able to
present their conclusions without too great use of these mysterious
symbols. It is not to be denied that the progress of science has made
it necessary to coin words for new facts and new theories. The in-
vention of new words has not ended there, however, for they often
express only old facts and old ideas. Scientific writings are also made
needlessly obscure by refinements in the use of technical words that
are in no way essential to the main thesis. Moreover, long and un-
usual words are often preferred to shorter words that are in more
common use. Some scientists appear to believe that unless their
writings are ponderous they will lose standing among their colleagues.
As a consequence, when a scientific treatise is written in such form as
to be understood by the average educated man, the public exclaims
at the marvel.
Someone has described sociology as a science which tells us what
we already know in words we cannot understand. Even though this
may be a slander, much scientific writing is open to the same criticism.
Scientific treatises so camouflaged with technical phraseology as to
obscure their paucity of ideas are not unknown. It is sometimes for-
gotten that clear writing is the offspring of clear thinking. Those who
doubt that science can be presented in both elegant and clear diction
should turn to the treatises by the French, and that this is not a matter
of language is shown by some scholarly expositions by the British.
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 105
It is a striking fact that relatively few popular scientific works are
now being written in this country. In a recent list prepared by a com-
mittee of this Academy a large percentage of the books were written
by Englishmen. In scientific textbooks America probably leads —
certainly in numbers. Most of these books, however, are written
for the pedant, and no matter how valuable they may be for his use
they are not likely to awaken popular interest in the subject treated.
Indeed, some of them appear to have been prepared for the market
rather than because the author had any message to convey.
The Federal scientist, because of his direct responsibility to the
people, deserves the most censure for the faults of presentation. Many
bureaus have, indeed, prepared very good popular treatises on some
applications of science, but most of their other publications are couched
in technical language that is incomprehensible to all but the specialists.
Some of their results, with the aid of the newspapers, have been re-
duced to popular form, but most of these "translations," as we may call
them, are written for the unthinking man, who is generally willing to
take his science on faith and therefore meeds no expositions. To
meet his supposed needs science is "melodramatized," and startling
discoveries are emphasized at the expense of presenting principles.
The form of the "stories" in the sensational press is followed more
often than that of the expositions of art, history, and literature found
in our best periodicals. What is needed is the presentation of science
in a form comprehensible to the educated and thinking man, and this
work must needs be done by the investigator himself. The other im-
portant work of interpreting science for the mass of the people can best
be left to those who have special talent for the task. It should be said
for the Federal investigator that for most of his work he is not always
given the time necessary for clear writing. He therefore has recourse
to scientific jargon and sometimes, indeed, leaves to the devoted bureau
editor the correction of his faults of diction.
Research may be popularized not only by properly presenting its
results, but by informing the public of its purpose and methods;
and in this too there is room for much improvement. The investiga-
tor who runs true to type avoids rather than courts publicity ; he asks
nothing more than to be left to solve his own problems. This desire
has become almost a mania in many scientists, both to their own
detriment and to that of the public. Publicity has therefore been
left to the occasional worker who is far from willing to hide his light
under a bushel. The public, almost entirely ignored by the average
106 JOURNAL, OF THK WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
scientist, finds this exceptional type, usually not a difficult task, and
takes him at his own valuation. In so doing it may forget that the
efficiency of a steam engine cannot be gaged by the volume of sound
produced by its whistle. If science is permitted to reach the average
man principally through the agency of a few self -selected mouthpieces,
investigators have only themselves to blame. There is no higher mis-
sion than the dissemination of science among the people, and those
who undertake it with no thought of self-glorification and often at the
expense of their own researches certainly deserve the highest praise.
A more amusing and perhaps less valuable type is the restless
scientist. He usually devotes far more time to exposition than to
origination. If the activities of the restless scientist take the form of
publication, they may appear with the noise and regularity of the
projectiles from a machine gun. We should remember, however,
that the destructive effect of an automatic weapon is due to volume of
fire rather than to accuracy of aim ; also that its projectiles are machine
made and of light weight. At other times the restless scientist mani-
fests himself by close attention to public meetings. No convention,
society, or committee is complete without him, and if not on the plat-
form he is at least on a front seat. His voice is heard in favor of the
most popular reform of the day, and he is critical of his colleagues who
do not join the chorus.
We marvel at the publicity scientist, who often seems to be bearing
the weight of the Nation on his shoulders, but we must acknowledge
that he may be a valuable member of the body politic. Though he
has usually abandoned research, yet he stirs up his less progressive
colleagues, and, above all, he keeps science in the public eye. Some
of these men are doing most valuable work, and it is not for those who
hold themselves aloof from the public to take them to task. He who
sacrifices his own scientific career with the purpose of bringing to
the people better knowledge of the results, needs, and methods of
science merits the highest praise and should have the full support of
every scientist. Adverse criticism must be reserved for him whose
publicity work is largely devoted to self-advertising.
The working corps of publicity scientists is recruited in part from
the Federal service, but I believe the Federal recruits are outnumbered
by those from other sources. Recent legislative restrictions have
rather discouraged the activities of the familiar type of traveling
scientist of the Federal service, who was most often found elsewhere
than in his own laboratory.
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the feder^m. science 107
There is an old Washington story worth recording, though probably
it is familiar to you all. A visitor, much impressed with the large
number of specialists included in the membership of a local club, ex-
pressed his enthusiasm by exclaiming, "You can ask no question in
the Cosmos Club but you will find the man who will give the answer."
One of his auditors, long resident in the city, remarked "Yes, and I
know the man." He had reference to one of a type that may be
designated as the "professional prominent scientist." This type,
though not unknown elsewhere, was at one time conspicuous in
Washington and was the popular authority on all scientific questions.
A new problem was the signal for at least a half-column interview, in
which a final dictum was pronounced. Though he sometimes failed
to impress his colleagues with the profundity of his knowledge, the
public was ever ready to worship at his shrine. His evolution, a
perfectly natural one, was due to the craving of the man on the street
for an understanding of something of science, a craving satisfied by but
few investigators. He served a valuable purpose, and the popularizing
of science has certainly lost ground since the position of scientist laur-
eate has become vacant.
The first gun at Liege, inaugurating the upheaval that was destined
to shake the foundations of civilization, opened a new field for science,
which the coming of peace greatly expanded. The call for help from a
distressed world was responded to by every scientist, whose one thought
was to discover how be might be of service, and every branch of science
took an account of stock to learn what it might offer. In the first
years of war the titles of presidential addresses to scientific societies
were almost stereotyped; they were all expositions showing how this
or that science could be made useful.
Federal science both gained and lost by the tumult of war— gained
because its results found a seller's market and finally received recog-
nition; lost because after the war the investigator learned that his
services were valued much higher by industry than by the Govern-
ment. In that brilliant coterie of leaders in thought and action gath-
ered at Washington by the war, the Federal scientist shone, if only by
reflected light. If in that, as in all other wars, the volunteer received
more glory than the regular, the regular at least gained more than ever
before.
It detracts in no way from the splendid war service rendered by
every scientific institution in the country to assert that the Federal
bureaus were the backbone of war science. They were the vast store-
108 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
houses of scientific facts that could at once be drawn upon, and the
energies of their great corps of investigators were quickly turned to-
ward the problems of war. As hardly a field of science was not utilized,
so hardly one was unrepresented at Washington among its thousand
investigators. At the outbreak of the war this great army was fully
mobilized, and its staffs were organized. Though not so well dis-
ciplined as some wished, it was necessarily better prepared to go over
the top at the zero hour than the new recruits, seasoned veterans
though many of them were.
At no other time in our history were there gathered together so
large a number of leaders of business affairs, and many of these were
for the first time awakened to the high commercial value of science.
With the signing of the armistice the doUar-a-year man returned to
his more lucrative occupation, while the Federal scientist was left
to divide his attention between high scientific ideals and high cost of
living. The dollar-a-year man lost no time in garnering into his
affairs some of the Federal scientists whom he had learned to value
during the war. He went further than that, for he robbed the uni-
versities of some of their most earnest advocates of pure science.
It seems remarkable that the end of a period when devotion to pub-
lic duty was the very keynote of the Nation should be marked by a
widespread desertion of the Federal service. Men who had long
sacrificed their own and their families' comfort found the task no
longer to their liking. Veteran Government scientists who had for
years continued in the service because of devotion to their ideals
realized that their war colleagues from private life were willing, the
emergency past, to abandon public service for more lucrative employ-
ment. Many investigators no doubt held that they too had done their
share of public work and were not called upon for further sacrifice.
The loss to the Federal service of experienced investigators is well
known though this audience will hardly be willing to accept the
statement that "all the able scientists have left the Government
service." The egress from the service after the war was so large that
the crowded condition of the trains leaving Washington must have
been due in part to ex-Government scientists who were being trans-
ported to more lucrative positions. Quite as alarming as this loss,
though less well advertized, is the difficulty of filling vacancies by the
best men from the universities, for it has come to pass that the Federal
service now often has only second choice. Many of the best-trained
men, who formerly chose the career of Government investigator, now
pass directly from the university into commercial life.
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 109
This turnover of scientific personnel in the Federal service is to be
deplored, for the newcomers are at best but ill trained compared with
those that have gone, and they are strangers to the traditions of the
service. No doubt some of our critics will regard this as a not un-
mixed evil, because they hold that bureau chiefs exercise the same
functions as the beadles of the University of Gottingen, whose prin-
cipal duty, according to Heine, was to prevent any enterprising
Privat-docent from smuggling new ideas into the institution.
The present trend of the best university graduates away from
research and toward industry is a most serious threat to the future of
science. Its causes are many and include financial and other post-
war conditions. May it not, however, also be in part due to a certain
lowering of the ideals of the university student? Because of the
high cost of living the teaching staffs of universities, like those of other
research institution, have been depleted. Strenuous efforts have been
made to increase the salary of the professor, but some of the univer-
sities have been forced to temporize by allowing him to devote a part
of his time to commercial work. In others the professor, though not
actually employed in the business world, has been forced to eke out
his small income by preparing textbooks instead of by advancing re-
search. Are we then not justified in asking whether a student's
ideal to advance knowledge will be greatly developed by a "revered
master" whose academic work is frequently interrupted by industrial
demands, or whose contributions to science are textbooks, some of
them only too evidently prepared with a view to profit?
Another by-product of the war which may do evil to science is the
widespread and more or less blind worship of so-called efficiency.
The post-war restlessness has developed a popular fervor for every-
thing that is new or different from what has gone before. No one can
find fault with the plan of bringing all scientific activities to the
highest degree of efficiency, but there are differences of opinion as
to how this can best be accomplished. The American people are
sometimes carried away by sentiment rather than by cold reasoning,
and any new cause, after receiving the proper label, is pressed forward
without thoughtful analysis. Sweeping generalizations are made by
unthinking men, and if they make a popular appeal they may receive
the assent of the majority. The economies forced by the post-war
conditions have made efficiency a national fetish. Unfortunately,
the word efficiency has to many lost its true meaning, and because of
the success of a certain definite system of improved administration
110 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
or Operation in industrial plants, it is assumed that a like system should
be adopted for all other activities. It is therefore quite possible that
the methods of efficiency employed in industry may soon be applied
to research. Though no one has yet claimed that these methods would
improve our output in literature, this use of them would not be very
different from their use in scientific investigation.
Another present popular fetish whose worship is closely related
to that of efficiency is the fallacy that all advance has been made by
the work of the executive. Our rapid material success has been due
largely to the executive, yet the most effective worker in advancing
civilization has been the thinker. During the war the organizer and
leader was the prime necessity, but our success in the war was largely
the result of peace-time thinking. War conditions are not favorable
to close thought and careful analysis, and though under the stress
of national necessity we made many new applications of our knowledge,
it may be questioned whether the stress led to any new thought.
The successful administrator has long been our national hero, and
the greatest material rewards have come to him; the thinkers and
investigators have always taken the second place. This popular wor-
ship of the executive has already affected American science, and
even the scientist has been drawn into the maelstrom of administra-
tive duties. Good executive heads of scientific institutions are neces-
sary and should by all means come from those who have themselves
carried on research. There is now, however, such a furore for organi-
zation that many important researches have been interrupted, because
the scientist was dragged into all manner of affairs foreign to his train-
ing and experience. If this movement continues, a large part of the
best investigators will soon be devoting their time to activities of
societies, institutions, or committees the avowed purpose of many
which is to advance science. It is then a fair question. If most of
the energy of American scientists is to be devoted to the advocacy
of research, who is to do the actual investigating? We may be coming
to a situation in which drastic action must be taken to send the in-
vestigator back to his laboratory. Therefore, any plan of advancing
pure or applied science, whose execution involves delay in important
researches, may better be abandoned.
There is a widespread belief that all faults of the Federal executive
departments can be cured by reorganization. Some discordant group-
ings of Federal bureaus and of their subdivisions, which lead to in-
efficiency, are evident. These are so conspicuous that they are some-
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 111
times taken as proof that the whole plan is faulty. This is not the
time nor place to discuss the broad problem of Federal reorganiza-
tion, but as any basal changes in the scientific service will affect the
individual investigator it must be touched upon.
There is now a great hue and cry about duplication of work in the
bureaus and departments. Nevertheless, I venture the opinion that
there is but little real duplication in the scientific service. There is
a twilight zone between all fields of research that may at will be thrown
into this or that one, and therefore it has happened that two bureaus
approaching a subject from different direction have found themselves
in the same field. The old time bitter interbureau controversies
over jurisdiction are disappearing, however, as the result of a spirit
of cooperation and the application of common sense, rather than by
order of higher authority. Though the branches of some scientific
bureaus have found among their number certain strange bedfellows,
most of these misplacements have been the results of only temporary
expedients.
The errors of some plans of reorganization are due to a misunder-
standing of the purpose and methods of science and its terminology.
Not many years ago a law was proposed providing that all chemical
laboratories should be consolidated in a single bureau. The advocates
of this measure, having no comprehension of what was included in
the science of chemistry, honestly believed that it was a reform which
would result in economy and efficiency. As a matter of fact it was
as intelligent as if all work requiring the use of the slide rule should
be centralized in the Naval Observatory.
It is to be hoped, therefore, that any plan of reorganization will
not be based on confusion between the sounds of words and their true
meaning. To me it appears that one question to be asked is whether
the organization now charged with any given investigation is doing
its work well. If the answer is affirmative, it denotes that the organi-
zation has an efficient personnel and a strong esprit de corps. The
integrity of such an organization should not be sacrificed for the sake
of a too rigid system of classification.
I venture the opinion that a sound reorganization will provide for a
complete divorce between scientific research, on one hand, and the
administration of law and the carrying on of miscellaneous Govern-
ment business, on the other. In the past these latter duties have
sometimes come to bureaus established for scientific investigations,
and as a result research has suft'ered. The investigator is by tempera-
112 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
ment not fitted for the duty of administering the law or carrying on
other business, and those who are qualified for these tasks are usually
equally lacking in the abiUty to direct research. Therefore, the
natural division between Federal functions should be recognized by
placing the investigator and the administrator in distinct organiza-
tions. Where the facts and their interpretation are needed for the
proper enforcement of law the investigator should be called upon,
but he enters a foreign field when he undertakes to execute laws.
Kipling has said that "There are nine and sixty ways of constructing
tribal lays, and every single one of them is right." The intricate
dovetailing of scientific research and its manifold applications to in-
dustry gives a choice between a large number of perfectly logical
classifications. Therefore, reorganization can well seek to maintain
the traditions of the scientific service that have been developed during
the century of its growth. Mere antiquity cannot, of course be
considered an argument in favor of this or that classification; yet in
these days of unrest the preservation of an esprit de corps that is the
outgrowth of long and effective service should not be lightly cast aside,
in spite of the fact that it may contravene the principles of the effi-
ciency expert devoted to cultivating mass effort as against individual
effort.
In this all too long address I have attempted to set forth the more
significant conditions under which Government scientific work goes
forward. By way of summary, I may attempt to answer the question,
What has a newly appointed scientist to reckon with on entering the
Federal service? It would be easiest to follow the example of many
others and dwell long on the darker side of the picture, but we must
also see the brighter side.
The financial aspect of his situation deserves first attention, for
the new-born scientist probably has not yet learned to put behind him
all material things. His first important discovery after, say, six
years of expensive education will be that his services are valued at
less than those of a journeyman plumber with a professional training
of six months, during which his earnings have at least covered his keep.
If the scientist remains in the service he can look forward with some
hope that his income will eventually overtake his expenses, but this
only if he lives humbly, as befits one of his lowly station. While
dedicating his life to the public weal he may be cheered by the assurance
that at the age of seventy, when he will be unfit for private employ-
ment except as doorkeeper, he may be retired on an allowance of $6CIb
ifEB. 19, 1922 brooks: the scientist in the federal service 113
a month. This and the interest on the debts he has been forced to
contract while he has been in the service should suffice to provide the
plain living and high thinking to which he has so long been schooled.
If he is truly democratic, he will find comfort in the fact that some
aged colleague, whose professional duty in the Federal serv'ice was to
shovel coal, enjoys the same monthly allowance as his own.
The newcomer will find in the Federal service an atmosphere of
activity and high pressure that is not always conducive to construc-
tive thought. If he is favored by fortune he may find that his work-
shop is a modern laboratory, but he is quite as likely to find that the
law has relegated him to the dark corner of a crowded room. In such
a corner the distraction caused by the inevitable noise and confusion
around him may not infrequently prevent the mental concentration
essential to good scientific work.
The new assistant will soon discover that his official actions are
more or less controlled by very definite regulations, which may prove
irksome to one who has recently emerged from the academic freedom
of a graduate school. As he gains more experience, however, he will
probably come to realize that good administration of a large organiza-
tion necessitates some rules and restrictions. Or, like some of his
colleagues, he may always hold all restrictions imposed by law to be
merely symptoms of bureaucracy.
If the young investigator has had a vision of following a path of
self-selected research he will meet with bitter disappointment. He
must win his spurs before he can ride to combat. He will find his
task definitely assigned to him, probably some small, closely super-
vised investigation. But if he proves his ability, a larger field will
surely open out to him. His excellent training will shorten his ap-
prenticeship as compared with that of his predecessor of generations
past. This apprenticeship, short though it may be, will form the
necessary introduction to independent investigation. In after life
he will probably come to see that his best professional training was
gained while he was working under the close control of an experienced
colleague.
If the scientist has come to Washington with the purpose of dedi-
cating his life to problems that are unsullied by the sordid needs of
man, he has committed a blunder. He will soon learn that grants of
public funds are seldom made for research that is not directed toward
some ultimate goal of material results. To reach the fixed goal,
however, investigations in the fundamental principles of science
114 JOURNAL OF THS WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 4
must be undertaken. The investigator will soon discover that the
Federal service is not favorable for him who holds that if he himself
is pleasantly occupied, a demand for results is unreasonable. The
bureau chief is not sympathetic with the scientist who believes that,
if his own life is not long enough to enable him to arrive at a con-
clusion, posterity can glean sufficient wisdom from his unfinished
epoch-making treatise to justify the expenditure of public funds
made on his research.
Sooner or later fiscal responsibilities will come to the new scientist,
and if he seeks counsel from his older colleagues, some will tell him
that the case is hopeless — that the duty of auditors is to interfere
with the progress of science by throwing every available obstacle in
its path. If, however, he is of an inquiring mind (as even a Federal
scientist may be) , he may make the startling discovery, new to many
of his seniors, that the Federal fiscal system is comparatively simple,
so far as it affects the individual investigator; and also that most of
its difficulties arise from laws and not from arbitrary regulations.
It will, however, be brought home to him that although scientific
bureaus may encourage originality, the Treasury officials find no'
merit in it when it is displayed in expense vouchers.
The young scientist may meet with some surprises at Washington..
He may have pictured the Federal scientific service as a close cor-
poration that attempts to impose its conclusions on the scientific-
world. In fact, however, he will find that members of the service
hold the most diverse opinions, that they are themselves the keenest
critics of both results and policies, and that by this characteristic
the scientist finds himself in an open forum, where new ideas and new
interpretations are most heartily welcomed.
He is not unlikely to find his preconception of his bureau chief to-
be false. Possibly he has pictured him as a cross between a political
lobbyist and an advance theatrical agent — one whose decisions are
based on expediency rather than on the rights and wrongs of a situa-
tion one whose interest in science is prompted solely by the hope of
obtaining popular applause. At close range he will probably find his
chief a man deeply interested in the progress of science, who, after de-
voting years of his life to research, has given it up out of a sense of public
duty, for the thankless task of administration. Most certainly he wilt
find him a very much overworked man, bearing a heavy responsibility
for the expenditure of vast sums of public money and yet constantly
harried by just calls for investigations that are far beyond his resources.
FEB. 19, 1922 brooks: THE SCIENTIST IN THR FEDERAI^ SERVICE 115
It will soon be disclosed to the young scientist that he has joined
a corps of well- trained professional men, keenly alive to the scientific
and industrial progress of the Nation. Though he will probably
never hear the phrases "public duty" and "self-sacrifice," he will
find that what these terms mean is earnestly expressed by actions.
Nowhere in the world may he find so many scientists, and whatever
his specialty he will meet some whose interests are identical with his
own — among them probably a recognized international authority in
his particular field of inquiry. Again, he will find his own particular
field represented in one of the many local societies. Above all, the
young scientist will in time come to realize that the mere mass of
such an army of investigators, whose scientific ideals are no less be-
cause they include the welfare of mankind, gives an inspiration not
excelled elsewhere.
116 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. VOL. 12, NO. 4
SCIENTIFIC NOTEsS AND NEWvS
By a proclamation of President Harding, signed January 24, a 593-acre
tract in the Nevada National Forest has been set aside as the Lehman Caves
National Monument. The area remains a part of the National Forest, but
can be used for no purposes which interfere with its preservation as a national
monument. The caves are in a limestone formation at the base of Mt.
Wheeler, at an altitude of 7200 feet, and contain a remarkable series of
stalactites and stalagmites.
The Pick and Hammer Club met at the Geological Survey on Saturday,
February 4. Professor H. A. Brouwer and the members of the Club dis-
cussed informally the tectonic theory presented by Dr. BrouwER before the
Academy and the Geological Society on February 2.
At the meeting of the Petrologists' Club on January 17, E. T. Allen
discussed Chemical sources of volcanic energy, and L. H. Adams, Physical
sources of volcanic energy. C. S. Ross presented a brief note on A peculiar
type of igneous rock in Montana.
At the meeting of the Physics Club of the Bureau of Standards on January
27, Professor Leonard T. Troland, of Harvard University, spoke on The
interrelation of physics and psychology. This is to be the first of a series of
lectures on the borderline between physics, psychology, and physiology.
At the 25th annual meeting of the local Audubon Society on January 25,
Dr. A. A. Allen, of Cornell University, discussed Birds and their relation to
man.
Professor H. A. BrouwER, of the Geological Institute, University of Delft,
Holland, visited Washington in February. Dr. BrouwER will give a series
of lectures at the University of Michigan, in exchange with Professor William
H. HoBBS, who is now lecturing at Delft.
Mr. Edwin F. Wendt, formerly a member of the Engineering Board,
Department of Valuation, Interstate Commerce Commission, has opened an
office in Washington for the general practice of engineering in connection with
the valuation and regulation of railroads, telegraphs, and other common
carrier properties.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 March 4, 1922 No. 5
OCEANOGRAPHY. — Some problems of the sea.^ R. L. Faris, U. S.
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
INTRODUCTION
It has been well said, I think, that "a presidential address, if there
is to be any at all, should be elaborately short and elaborately simple.
It should deal with general principles, such as can be imme-
diately grasped by every member of an audience."' This is good ad-
vice, and I hope you will find that I have followed it.
Noah was probably the first person of record to study the sea.
He had a sea problem of navigation, of ascertaining his whereabouts
and that is probably all the attention that he gave to the matter.
The first problems of the sea were probably those of navigation or
perhaps such as concerned the local food supply which through-
out all historic time has been drawn partly from the sea.
The seas which man found here upon his advent on earth he seems,
as a matter of course, to have long considered as a part of his natural
surroundings, and generally ceased to trouble himself about them —
their size, their depths, their contents, or even their effect upon his
life. Yet the area of the seas is much larger than that of all land
areas of the earth, and their influence upon his daily life, and even
upon his very nature, is profound and persistent. The very ratio of
sea to land surface is essential to the existence and development of
the present humankind.
It is impossible to predict or even definitely to speculate upon the
effect on human life that a different distribution or a different ratio of
land and water would bring about, for we have no specific knowledge
of any other world arrangement with which to make comparison. I
think it quite possible that not many of us have taken thought of
how really our lives are dependent upon the existence and the pres-
1 Address of retiring President of the Philosophical Society of Washington, Jan. 14,
1922. Received Jan. 19, 1922.
2 L. Fletcher. Brit. Assoc. Report for 1894, p. 631.
117
118 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
ent distribution of the waters of the oceans, and even from a prac-
tical standpoint the great majority of mankind has not bothered it-
self much about the matter. But when we deal thoroughly with the
problems of the sea we must touch upon many fundamental branches
of science.
The science of the sea concerns with like interest the biologist,
the chemist, the meteorologist, the magnetician, the geologist, the
physiographer, the volcanologist, and others, with special subdivisions
of their lines of investigations. Also the navigator and the civil
engineer have their important practical problems dealing with the
sea. Many branches of science meet in and upon the sea, and their
boundaries merge into each other.
The sea has made for us a clue to much of the past surface history
of the world, for in its depths the remains of the past life of the sea
have been filed away as in the archives of nature, and the sedimentary
rocks which have been formed tell us something of the physical history
of the earth.
A study of the life in the sea is no longer one of scientific interest
only, but one of pressing economic importance, as an added source
of supply of human food for the ever-growing populations of the
earth.
From a biological standpoint, are there any deserts in the sea?
Is it possible to cultivate the sea as we do the land, or as we do our
oyster resources, or our streams and lakes by stocking with fish?
To utilize our land areas economically, topographic, mineral,
forest and other special surveys are essential. Just so, it is important
to have a scientific survey of our ocean areas to enable us to take
stock of its natural resources, and, having this, thereby to be in a
position intelligently to develop and to utilize its resources in an eco-
nomical and efficient manner.
Aside from being the highway of the commerce of the world, do we
also need to use the food resources of the sea for the maintenance of
the human race? Or, in other words, must we depend upon the sea
to provide a portion of the food necessary for the existence of the
coming populations? Does the human body now require for its
best development any essential elements of food that can be sup-
plied by the sea only?
If these questions are answered in the affirmative, then, among
others, the sea food problem requires our most intelligent attention,
especially as the people are even now taking thought of their food
MAR. 4, 1922 PARIS : some problems of the sea 119
supply, which the tillable land areas of the earth are daily growing
less and less able to meet, as evidenced by the rising basic costs of
food. Sea foods have been looked upon as desirable, but not abso-
lutely essential, parts of human diet. They may soon become nec-
essary to supplement an inadequate food supply from the lands.
It was the belief of Sir John Murray that the sea is capable of a
productivity equal to that of the land. It is generally estimated
that less than five per cent of man's food now comes from the sea.
If so, then the sea has unrealized possibilities of utilization that are
vast from the economic standpoint, and a comprehensive study of
these possibilities should not be overlooked or neglected, especially
by maritime nations.
As the land areas are made subservient to the practical needs of
man just so must the sea be made more useful in supplying the needs
of the human race, both physical and cultural. But the utilization
of the resources of the ocean must and will follow its scientific investi-
gation and study. Let us find out what is in the sea, and then learn
how to apply it to our needs.
As our frontiers are pushed farther and farther toward the limits
of our country we hear more and more about the conservation of
our natural resources, while here on the borders of the continent lie
untold resources awaiting our investigation and industrial development.
So whatever science can do in its investigation of the sea and all
that therein is, cannot fail to have its important interest for us in the
practical bearings it must eventually have upon our daily lives.
In the sea, as in no other place, do we observe the tireless energy
of the universe depicted at all times. The hydrosphere, like the atmos-
phere, is never still in all its parts. It epitomizes and visualizes the
energies of creation. And the inhabitants of the sea, by long processes
of adaptation, are no doubt dependent upon, and aided by, these
ceaseless motions which assist their distribution and prevent over-
crowding, and aid in the provision of food which is a necessary con-
dition of their life. The circulation of the waters of the sea is a vital
benefit to the life of the ocean creatures, just as air circulation is vital
to the living organisms of the land. The circulation of the waters
in the great ocean streams has also a climatic influence upon the
life on the land areas of the world as well as upon the life in the sea..
It is the climatic balance wheel for many regions, ever striving to-
ward an equilibrium which fortunately is never quite attained. The
sea has its seasons no less than the land.
120 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
In fact, as we learn more and more of the physical facts of the sea,
we also learn of their important influence upon our lives.
I suppose that nearly all the problems of the sea that are really
worth while have already been suggested and more or less studied by
some one, and many of them are at least partly solved, but my wish
is to emphasize strongly the necessity for an intensive pursuit of those
that have scientific or economic value, and for concerted effort and
standardized action, that an awakened and sustained interest may be
had in those problems, especially by all those nations whose borders
touch the oceans and who thereby must the more readily realize the
importance of, and be much interested in, such matters.
Much more of actual observations at sea and in the sea is needed to
verify existing theories or to modify them to conform to the further
facts of observation.
The mechanical problems of the sea are more nearly solved than
its physical ones. The helps to the navigator are far advanced,
and the life-saving and property-saving appliances are well up to
date, so that the mariner sails on a more familiar sea than the ocean-
ographer or the geophysicist. But this is only because his problems
were the more immediate, and the aid of the scientific method and of
science was first applied in his direction for very obvious reasons;
he has been here with his practical problems since the birth of modern
science and has stood ready to apply its findings to the betterment of
his art. The applications of radio communication have become the
genius of ocean navigation, and of longer distance weather predic-
tions.
Yet it is not possible clearly to separate the pure science from ap-
plied science in oceanography, as the needs of the one stimulate
the other, and the discoveries of science soon become the necessities
of the practical navigation and other economic uses of the sea.
OCEANOGRAPHY
Oceanography, the general term by which the science of the sea
is now come to be designated, is a comprehensive term which em-
braces a number of rather distinct branches of investigation and study,
but many of which, owing to the nature of the problems, are generally
carried on simultaneously. It certainly would be most economical
and efficient that as many as possible of the physical investigations of
the sea be carried on simultaneously by the same exploring expedition.
The equipment for sea exploration is expensive at best, so that the
MAR. 4, 1922 PARIS: SOME PROBLEMS OF THE SEA 121
more comprehensive the investigations can be made, the more eco-
nomically will the results be obtained.
Oceanography as this term is now applied is not an old science.
Some twenty years ago Sir John Murray - said of it :
The recognition of oceanography as a distinct branch of science may be
said to date from the commencement of the Challenger investigations. The
fuller knowledge we now possess about all oceanic phenomena has had a
great modifying influence on many general conceptions as to the nature and
extent of those changes which the crust of the earth is now undergoing and
has undergone in past geologic times. Our knowledge of the ocean is still
very incomplete. So much has, however, been acquired already, that the
historian will, in all probability, point to the oceanographical discoveries
during the past forty years as the most important addition to the knowledge
of our planet since the great geographical voyages associated with the names
of Columbus, DaGama, and Magellan at the end of the fifteenth and the
beginning of the sixteenth centuries.
There are probably no longer any frontiers on land or sea to ex-
plore, except perhaps some parts of the polar areas, yet upon the
sea there is one region of two million square miles that has never felt
a cast of the sounding line, nor much of other investigation.
The extreme depth of the ocean has probably been approximately
approached, and now turns out to be somewhat in excess of 5300
fathoms (31,800 feet), somewhat more below sea level than the high-
est elevation of the land above the sea ; thus making the summit of the
highest mountain about ten geographic miles above the deepest
known "deep" of the ocean.
While we now have much information about the physical geog-
raphy of the oceans and detailed surveys have been made of their
borders in the more advanced countries of the world, there yet re-
mains the larger part of the sea coasts to be surveyed and mapped by
such modern methods and equipment as will meet present and future
requirements of science, engineering, and commerce; especially is
this true of the coasts of the Pacific Ocean, and of the polar regions.
A knowledge of the physical form of the ocean basins is fundamental
to almost all of the branches that go to make up the whole science of
the sea, and, together with other physical facts, is a guide to many
industrial possibilities existing therein.
I think that there can be no doubt that the lack of accurate knowl-
edge of the form' of the ocean basins has already retarded industrial
progress, commercial development, and scientific and cultural ad-
vancement of the world.
^ President's address, Section E (Geography), Brit. Assoc. Report for 1899.
122 JOURNAL OP the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
In the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the 1000-fathom depth, there is
now one sounding for about each 12,000 square miles; in the Pacific,
one sounding for each 25,000 square miles ; and in the Indian Ocean
one sounding for each 26,000 square miles. The depths of the polar
seas have been explored only to a most limited extent or virtually not
at all. Owing to the methods of navigation and of deep sea sounding,
when the earlier of these soundings were recorded, it is quite possible
that their positions and depths now ought to be verified by modern
methods.
The major part of the sea coasts of the world is not yet surveyed
and charted with the accuracy now needed, and many thousands
of miles of the coast lines are not surveyed at all, and still other parts
not even approximately sketched.
In our own country nine-tenths of the coast of Alaska is not yet
surveyed, and the Pacific Coast of Continental United States is for
the large part yet undone, while the need for surveys is urgent and
commercial development is retarded and delayed.
Only about one-seventh of the land area of the world is in any wise
adequately mapped, and the form of the sea bottom is proportion-
ately not so well known as the topography of the land. The surface
of the sea holds less of interest to mankind than the surface of the
land; however, to the man of science, the bottom of the oceans, if it
could be exposed to view, would no doubt reveal equally as much of
scientific and popular interest as the land surfaces.
We have been mapping the land by various means and methods
for many centuries, while the mapping of the coasts and ocean basins
has been undertaken seriously for a bare century and a third, and
with only a comparatively small number of vessels and by only a few
nations. So it is readily understood why the undersea form of the
earth is not yet known to any very conclusive extent. In the mat-
ter of charting the sea coasts and depths of the oceans, it is well known
that all nations are lagging far behind the practical needs of ocean
commerce.
At the time of Columbus' voyage of discovery to the new world
there were no charts showing the depths of the sea, nor the exact
boundaries of any ocean. In the year 1504 Juan de la Cosa made a
map showing soundings in shallow waters. Magellan, in the year
1521, was probably the first to attempt to sound the ocean depths.
Up to the present time the total number of soundings that have
been charted in the three larger oceans beyond the 1000-fathom
MAR. 4, 1922 FARIS: SOME PROBLEMS OF THE SEA 123
depth probably does not much exceed seven thousand,* including
many of the earlier ones that ought now to be verified, both as to po-
sition and depth of water; or an average of one sounding for each
17,000 square miles. To compare this with what ought to be done in
order to have a complete general deep sea survey it should be stated
that at least one hundred and fifty thousand soundings are needed,
spaced at intervals of about thirty miles, with necessary local develop-
ment. This would require ten ocean-going ships in continuous ser-
vice for ten years. And this means that each vessel must take four
or five deep sea soundings every day of the year throughout these
ten years. If, however, these vessels should carry on other ocean-
ographical investigations, as they most certainly should not fail to
do, the time would be much longer.
From physiographic and biologic standpoints the borderland of
sea and shore, the so-called continental shelf, holds a closer claim
upon our attention than any other part of the sea. This is the most
populous part of the ocean as regards the different forms of sea life;
and here also the physical forces of the sea are most manifest and
effective in producing the physiographic transformation that the face
of the earth is experiencing without cessation.
The force of the ocean waves is spent upon the sea shores in an end-
less and tireless evolution. The study of the processes of erosion and
accretion of sea shores is one of importance to the scientist and the
engineer alike. A study of these involves a knowledge of tides, cur-
rents, and wind-produced ocean waves. The causes must be studied
and the effects observed from time to time.
The larger part of the coast lines of the oceans, like the interior of
the continents, yet remains to be charted in accordance with the
present-day requirements. The sea bottom from the shores to the
edge of the continental shelf should be surveyed and mapped to meet
the needs of commerce, industry and science, all of these being vi-
tally concerned in the undersea physiography of this transition belt
between the land areas and the deep sea.
A survey and study of the ocean depths surrounding the islands
of the seas will doubtless do much towards giving us a clearer con-
ception of coral formation and growth, and add to our knowledge of
subsidence or emergence of land areas.
The charting of the ocean basins from their shores to their pro-
foundest depths is one of the outstanding problems of the sea. The
* Murray and Hjort. Depths of the Ocean, p. 131.
124 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
importance of it is especially known to all who have anything to do
with oceanography. The problem is also so large that nations are
thinking more seriously than ever before of how its solution can be
expedited by cooperative means. It is now fully realized that it is
a problem for all nations; it is no longer considered national but is
admittedly international.
The most recent evidence of the crystallization of authoritative
opinion concerning the international character of the hydrographic
survey of the oceans, is the formation during the past year of the
International Hydrographic Bureau, which has in its membership
representatives of most of the maritime countries of the world. The
object and powers of this Bureau are stated essentially to be :
The establishment of a close and permanent association between the Hy-
drographic Services of the Associated States, to coordinate their eflforts with a
view to rendering navigation easier and safer in all of the seas of the world,
to cause the national officers to adopt the Resolutions taken by the various
International Hydrographic Conferences, to try to obtain uniformity as far
as is possible in hydrographic documents, and finally, to advance the theory
and practice of the science of hydrography.
Among the subjects which the Bureau suggests for study is "Re-
searches on the subject of the constitution of the earth, in so far
as it affects hydrography."
In reference to many other subjects that make up the science of the
sea, the present-day attitude of men of science in regard both to the
magnitude of the problems confronting them and to the essential need
for unified action of all nations in attacking the problems now pressing
for solution, is well reflected in the meeting of the First Pan-Pacific
Scientific Conference fittingly held in Honolulu in August, 1920.
The papers presented and the subjects discussed at those meet-
ings are quite sufficient to convince us that much the greater part of
oceanographic work lies ahead of us, and that adequate progress
requires the efforts of all nations, and also that the work of the sur-
veys and investigations should be henceforth speeded up materially.
Oceanic circulation. — Now briefly to touch upon some other of
the larger problems of the sea ; the courses of the currents that make
up the system of oceanic circulation have been mapped in a general
way but our knowledge of these streams is far from satisfactory.
Our information concerning the strength and direction of ocean cur-
rents is largely dependent upon the set experienced by vessels traversing
the oceans. And this is based on the difference between the truej^and
the dead-reckoning positions, which does not permit of great accuracy
MAR. 4, 1922 FARIS: SOMe PROBLEMS OF THE SEA 125
ill determination. Supplementing the information from this source
there are a large number of records of drift bottles, wrecks and other
floating objects. But at best these permit conclusions of a qualita-
tive nature, only. We still lack observations that will permit of quan-
titative conclusions, and these can come only as the result of system-
atic observations.
Results of a divergent character are found in the records of drift-
ing objects. It is only by the use of great numbers of records of this
character, that conclusions, even approximately correct, may be
reached. Thus the whole subject of oceanic circulation is still rel-
atively a virgin field. For each of the currents investigations are
needed to determine its extent, its width, vertical and horizontal
^'elocity distribution, and its wind and seasonal variations.
Even in the case of the Gulf Stream, upon which considerable
good work has been done, there is still needed much work of a quan-
titative kind. For instance, it is known that the position of the ve-
locity and temperature axes of the stream are not necessarily coinci-
dent. But the exact relation between the two yet remains to be dis-
covered. Likewise the seasonal changes in the positions of these
two axes, and the variations in velocity and temperature due to
changes in the velocity and direction of the winds, yet remain to be
investigated. Considerable additions to our knowledge of the Gulf
Stream can yet be made regarding the horizontal and vertical distri-
butions of velocit}^ of currents, temperature, density, salinity, and their
variations with the winds and seasons. This involves, also, elaborate
tidal and current observ^ations in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mex-
ico and the adjacent waters of the Atlantic Coast, and possibly across
to the European Coast.
Tidal currents. — Intimately connected with the tides and forming
a part of the same phenomenon are the tidal currents. Out of sight
of land, tidal currents are generally very weak. But there they offer
an interesting field for study, since off-shore they are most frequently
of the rotary type. Close inshore considerable work remains yet to
be done to bring out the characteristics of local currents, especially
in the less frequented places of the world. There is also need for
investigations of a local character to determine the changes in the cur-
rent velocities due to winds and changes in atmospheric pressure.
Such investigations are of the greatest importance, aside from their
scientific value, in safeguarding navigation, in harbor works, and in
coast protection.
126 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
Tides. — Of all the phenomena of the sea, the tides seem to have been
among the first to attract man's attention, although there is an in-
terval of at least two thousand years between the earliest mention
of the tides that has come down to us, and the time when Jeremiah
Harrox first undertook a series of three months' continuous tidal
observations in the year 1640.
Our knowledge of the tides is based almost entirely on observa-
tions confined to the immediate vicinity of the coast. Observations
have not yet been made in the wide stretches of the open ocean;
and even close inshore where the difficulties of measuring the rise and
fall of the tide are much less, little has been done, and there are nu-
merous localities along the coasts where accurate information is still
wanting. There is need of investigations to determine for each lo-
cality the changes from the normal heights of the tide, due to wind
and changes in atmospheric pressure.
The tide-producing forces are definitely known, but the problem of
correlating these forces with the time and height of the tide at all
places on the earth by means of a general formula is yet to be solved
and much more of observation is needed where none as yet exists,
especially in the open sea, for the settlement of the question of the
general tidal theory.
Mean sea level. — Closely related to the subject of tides is the ques-
tion of mean sea level and its relation to elevation of the land of the
sea coasts. By mean sea level, I mean that resulting from continu-
ous tidal observations over a period of at least one complete lunar
cycle of approximately nineteen years' duration.
I do not see just how we can know anything definite about the
variations of mean sea level. The sea areas are so much greater
than the land areas of the globe that I think we must assume for all
practical purposes that mean sea level remains practically constant
and that any changes in vertical distance between reference points on .
the sea coast and the mean ocean surface are due to the movements of
the land, and not to variations of mean sea level. The problem there-
fore becomes one of determining the elevations of the coasts with ref-
erence to the mean level of the sea. This problem is of much impor-
tance to the engineer and the scientist, especially the geologist and
geophysicist. Measurements on land and sea are all referred to
sea level wherever a vertical reference point is required. Many of
our industrial works are based on this reference plane, and on account of
its invariability and readiness of reproduction, it is a natural standard.
MAR. 4, 1922 PARIS : some problems of the sea 127
It is therefore important that the relation of the land elevations to sea
level be studied and accurately known. A knowledge of this relation
is vital to the study of the subsidence or emergence of land areas.
That there have been great uplifts and subsidences in the surface
materials of the earth in past ages is well known. How long these
were in being accomplished, especially the uplifts, is not so well known.
Adjustments of the material of the lithosphere have not ceased, and
these adjustments generahy result in some changes in reference to
sea level.
Of course the duration of one generation is a short time in which
to study by physical observations any facts of subsidence now in
operation, but the observations should be arranged by this generation
and carried out systematically and handed on to the next, so that
cumulative evidence may later establish what the facts are relative
to changes in land elevations.
These observed facts must be closely related to tidal observations
of one or two years' duration all along the coasts, connected by lines
of precise levels. These tidal observations must be simultaneous
with tidal observations at standard base tidal stations where a long
series of observations have already been or are being secured.
No systematic work for accurate subsidence determinations has
been carried out anywhere, as far as I know, though there are a few
cases where precise levels were run between bench marks after inter-
vals of from 25 to 78 years. ^ Our present knowledge of the changes in
the relation of sea and land elevations (except those due to sudden
changes) depends almost entirely upon deductions from geologic
evidence found in the fossil remains of sedimentary rocks, studies of
coastal erosion, and perhaps in the study of coral reef formation
about the coasts and around the islands of tropical seas.
In this connection it seems proper to emphasize the importance of
having hydrographic surveys about the islands of the tropical seas
especially, not only for geographical reasons and for purposes of safer
navigation but also for the use in the study of coral formation and also
to afford us information of shore line changes effected through sub-
sidence, uplift, and erosion.
Terrestrial magnetism. — The problem of the earth's magnetism
is about the most difficult of all the unsolved problems of geophysics.
The data requisite for the study of this problem include magnetic
observations over the ocean areas, not only to measure the magnetic
^Geograph. Rev. 3: 136-137. 1917.
128 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
elements but to ascertain the secular change of these elements, to
outline the disturbed areas, and to discover the effect of ocean depths.
As far as I am aware only two specifically organized magnetic
surveys of the oceans have ever been established, that of Edmund
Halley in 1698, and that at the present time of the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Washington;
the latter being by far the most comprehensive and extensive, covering
the seas from latitude 60 ° south to 60 ° north, this sea work being supple-
mented by many hundreds of stations on land in countries where such
work is not being actively carried out by the nations themselves.
Most excellent work is being done, and the first magnetic survey
of the oceans may be said now to be nearing completion, but obser-
vations for the secular change data must be kept up. To keep the
secular change data up to date, and to fill in as yet unsurveyed areas,
will probably require the time of one expedition continuously.
Additional magnetic stations are especially needed in the polar
regions, especially in the north polar area. No opportunity should
be neglected by any surveying or exploring expedition to obtain
magnetic and allied observations wherever needed. Such electrical
observations as may, be found necessary and practicable should also
be carried out in connection with the magnetic observations at sea.
Gravity observations. — A problem of much importance in the study
of the physics of the earth is the determination of the intensity of
gravity at sea first, to furnish further information that wiir enable
us to ascertain more accurately the shape of the earth, and second, to
determine the distribution of the densities in the so-called "isostatic
shell" of the lithosphere.
Researches in this and other countries have made it certain that
the outer seventy miles of the earth's material is in a state of approxi-
mate isostatic equilibrium. If we assume a surface seventy miles
below sea level under the continent and on this surface lay out squares
approximately one hundred miles on a side and extend vertical planes
from these sides to the surface of the earth, we should have the same
mass in each of the columns, though some of the columns would be
a mile or more longer than others. In other words, each column of
equal cross section is found to have about the same pressure on the
nucleus at a depth of seventy miles below sea level as any other column.
Do these conditions exist under the ocean? The answer to this
question requires the obtaining of observations for the intensity of
gravity over ocean areas.
MAR. 4, 1922 PARIS : some problems of the sea 129
Obsen^ations for the determination of intensity of gravity have been
made at sea by several types of apparatus, but the accuracy of these
observations has only been sufficient to show that the intensity of
gravity under ocean areas followed closely the laws of change of gravity
with latitudes that are found to obtain over land areas, but the ob-
ser\''ations are not accurate enough to test the isostatic condition of
the ocean basins.
Some modification of the present instruments and correspond-
ing change of method of observation are needed, or possibly some in-
strument devised along entirely new lines from those heretofore
employed finally may be found necessary to get the accuracy required.
The solution of this problem is a matter of prime importance to
geologists and geophysicists in many of their studies.
Meteorological observations. — To know the state of the weather in
advance of its occurrence is an important matter to us whether we
be on land or sea, and the economic value of such information is well
known. In fact a foreknowledge of the weather has had such an im-
mediate economic value that the practical side of meteorology has de-
veloped to a greater degree than the theoretical side of the problem.*^
We have much less meteorological observational data over ocean
areas than for the land areas, though the ocean areas are of much
greater extent. The gathering of meteorological data more completely
over the regions of the oceans is an important problem of the sea,
and for us especially in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. In this
all ships that traverse the oceans can also continue to render valuable
service, by making meteorological observations, reporting them by
radio, and following with full reports by mail.
The need for much more ocean meteorological data is plain, and
their scientific and practical value so evident that no opportunity
for obtaining them should be disregarded.
Another problem said to be of promising importance is the obser-
vation of the tides and their correlation with the paths of approaching
hurricanes.'^
Ocean temperatures. — One of the most striking deficiencies in our
knowledge of the physical facts of the sea is that of ocean temperatures.
In the whole of the vast Pacific Ocean, for example, there are only
something like seven hundred lines of temperature observations,^ by
6 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 6: 561.
' Science 52: 638-639. Dec. 31, 1920.
* Annalen der Hydrographie, 38: 5. 1910.
130 JOURNAI. OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOIv. 12, NO. 5
far too meager a number with which to delineate an isothermal chart
of such an ocean. Lines of temperature observations are much too
few in all of the oceans, to say nothing of temperature data sufficient
for ascertaining the facts of variations of temperature, seasonal or
other at any place, except in the regions about the North vSea, the Bal-
tic and in the Mediterranean.
A knowledge of ocean temperatures at all depths, and for different
seasons of the year, is one of great significance to the science of phys-
ical oceanography, and is one of its outstanding needs at this time.
It is fundamental to the study of ocean circulation and to the prob-
lems of the marine biologist, and is believed to be a fair index, as well,
to certain configurations of the sea bottom.
Closely related to the problem of ocean circulation and to some of
the problems of marine biology is the salinity of the ocean waters.
The salinity varies throughout all of the waters of the sea, and a better
knowledge of its variations, especially the vertical distribution, is
most important, and is as yet not even so well known as the vertical
distribution of temperature.^
Sedimentation. — In oceanographic surveys bottom specimens should
be secured when sounding the depths of the sea, in order to secure
samples of the materials of the ocean floor for the study, among
other purposes, of sedimentation, which is fundamental to the geol-
ogist in considering sedimentary rocks. The character and chemical
constitution of the deposits on the ocean floor is of prime importance
to the marine biologist and the volcanologist. The bottom speci-
mens should be secured in such a way that it can be ascertained how the
deposits are serially laid down, and this requires as deep a penetra-
tion as possible for the specimen-gathering device.
In contemplating the many problems connected with a study of
the sea it is at once realized that it is not possible even to mention
many of them within the time at my disposal and one at once comes
to the thought how great is the task of finding out what is in the sea,
and it is the magnitude of this task that should urge the maritime
nations of the world to a more serious and active consideration of those
problems as to how they may be more expeditiously carried out.
To this end international cooperation is essential, for it is a world prob-
lem, and of equal importance to all.
The units for the oceanographical investigations should be as
comprehensive as can efficiently work together. For the most effi-
9 Ency. Brit. ed. 11. p. 983.
MAR. 4, 1922 FARIS: SOME PROBLKMS OF THE SEA 131
cient service the vessels employed on oceanographic work should be
designed and constructed for that specific purpose; the design to
be based on a careful consideration and study of the purpose and re-
quirements involved in the investigations that are to be carried out.
A laboratory should be provided on board the vessel so that chemical,
physical and biological investigations can to some extent be carried
on while the vessel is on the working grounds. The instruments
and equipment, and the methods of their use, should be standard-
ized and up-to-date. And in order to secure standard instruments
and methods these matters should be considered and passed upon
by a body composed of competent representatives of all cooperating
nations. This body should also draw up a manual of instructions
for the oceanographic work. Then all investigations carried out at
sea by the different expeditions would be of a readily comparable
character.
After the sea investigations have been made the most important
thing is the earliest possible publication of the results in such form,
at least, as will make them accessible to all students of the subjects
concerned. There are a number of institutions already in existence,
and others could be established if necessary, where this could be
done. In other words, these institutions would be the clearing houses
where the results of the oceanographic investigations would be studied,
correlated, and published.
CONCLUSION
My thought and purpose throughout this paper has been to put
before you in a most general way, the fact that although much has
been done in the investigation and study of the sea, and that also
there may be but few, if any, new regions to explore or new prob-
lems arising, yet as regards the details of existing problems yet to
be searched out and correlated, a good beginning only has been made,
and that the work yet needed to be done is so large as to require the
combined effort of all maritime nations, also that the need for the
work is really more pressing than its present rate of accomplishment
indicates.
Let us do what we can to popularize this subject; to show its scien-
tific and cultural as well as its economic aspects. Let us interest the
public in the value of knowing and cultivating these great ocean
fields, to learn more of Nature, as well as to make the lives of coming
generations more certain and secure.
132 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
Science applied to our national resources, has made the great in-
dustrial development of America, but with this development the needs
of the rapidly growing nation have correspondingly increased, so that
today we are forced to take thought of the remaining natural re-
sources of the land. A study of the sea will widen the field of our
natural resources as well as extend the limits of human knowledge and
culture.
ENTOMOLOGY.— A^^w species of the coleopterous genus Trox. H. F.
LooMis, Bureau of Plant Industry. (Communicated by O. F. Cook.)
Preparatory to describing a very extraordinary species of Trox
recently collected in Arizona, an examination of the closely related
forms was made which led to interesting findings regarding the clas-
sification of these species. The identification, on external characters,
of the species of this genus has been considered an easy matter and
the genus has received little attention from systematists for many
years. As in many other insects, very reliable specific differences are
exhibited by the male genitalia in this genus. This structure shows
that in the material hitherto identified as scutellaris Say, in the National
Museum, three very distinct species of great superficial resemblance
are included. That this resemblance has caused these species to be
confused in most collections is probable and other cases of a like
nature may occur, an examination of the male copulatory organs being
necessary to separate the species
In the specimens of platycyphus and scutellaris the wings were found
to be greatly atrophied and represented by only a short and very nar-
row vestige while in oligonus they show much better development
and bear far more resemblance to normal wings.
Only the larger species, those having the thorax strongly con-
stricted behind, are dealt with in this paper. The male genital
organs of all the species belonging to this group in the United States
have been figured to facilitate recognition of the species. The fig-
ures were made with the aid of a camera lucida and all are drawn to
the same scale. The copulatory organs of the female probably will
also exhibit good specific characters but they are not considered here.
Six species described by LeConte in 1854 have been reduced to
varietal rank under scutellaris and punctatus but the writer has been
unable to identify any of these from the external characters men-
tioned in the original descriptions. Their validity can be decided
only after study of the genitalia of the LeConte types. In this
paper specimens collected at Pueblo, Colorado are assumed to be scu-
MAR. 4, 1922 LOOMIS : NEW SPECIES COLEOPTEROUS GE;nUS TROX 133
tcllaris Say (type locality, "Upper Platte"), and a specimen of this
typical form is before the writer from southwestern Texas (between
Pecos River and the Guadeloupe Mountains).
Trox platycyphus Loomis, sp. nov. Shape oblong-oval, the color black
and shining when clean. Length 14 to 19 mm. Habitat, southern Texas.
Thorax strongly constricted at basal third; posterior angles obtusely
rounded, a slight emargination immediately in front of them; tubercles
strongly shining, much more sparsely and coarsely punctured than the rest
of the surface ; tubercles of the posterior series oval, the median pair larger ;
in front of each outer one and belonging to the anterior series is a smaller tu-
bercle; the usual ridges of the median pair of tubercles of the anterior series
coalesce causing the tubercles to appear broad and flat; from each of these,
on the inner side, a narrow, usually unpolished ridge extends backward between
and nearly opposite the middle of the inner pair of tubercles of the posterior
series. Elytra with the tubercles transversely confluent, much flattened,
smooth and shining; rows of large and small tubercles alternating, four
rows of the large, six of the smaller, two of these smaller rows between the
suture and the first large row; series of punctures much confused by trans-
verse coalescence of tubercles; entire surface of the elytra glabrous.
The male genitalia large and with very pronounced constriction near
the apical third ; median lobe not attaining apex of the lateral lobes ; outer
sides of lateral lobes almost parallel with a very abrupt constriction on the
apical third which reduces the width of the lobe nearly one half, the lobe then
continuing to a rather broadly rounded extremity; dorsal surface of lateral
lobes at the constriction abruptly declining giving the narrowed apex a lower
level; basal pieces long and rather broad. Fig. 1, A.
Type and paratypes No. 25198, U. S. National Museum.
Described from nineteen specimens from Cotulla, Texas, collected April
17, 1906, by F. C. Pratt. Other paratype localities in Texas are Knippa and
Sabinal, one specimen from each (F. C. Pratt), and San Diego, two specimens
(E. A. Schwarz).
The pair of complanate median tubercles of the thorax, the confluent
elytral elevations and the form of the genitalia are the salient features of this
species and separate it from scutellaris and the species which follow it.
Trox oligonus lyoomis, sp. nov. Large and broadly oval, robust species;
shining black when clean. Length 16 to 18 mm. Habitat, Texas.
Constriction of thorax moderate and resembling scutellaris although not as
long; margin in front of hind angles faintly emarginate; tuberculation as in
scutellaris. Elytra with rounded and moderately distinct tubercles in ten
rows, none of which predominates; usually a few spicules in a small patch
behind each tubercle; intervals between the rows of tubercles with a series
of punctures which are finer than in scutellaris. Vestigial wings short, rather
broad.
Male genitalia comparatively small ; sides of lateral lobes not constricted
at apical third as in scutellaris and the preceding species; tip of median
lobe more acute, reaching nearly to tips of the lateral lobes; basal pieces
broad and long. Fig. 1, C.
Type and paratypes No. 25199, U. S. National Museum.
Described from a series of nine specimens from Texas; five from the type
locality, San Diego, collected by E. A. Schwarz, April 30 to June 12, 1895, and
134 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
Fig. 1. Male genitalia of TROX. — A, T. platycyphus, n. sp; B, T. scutellaris Say; C,
T. oligonus, n. sp.; D, T. inflatus, n. sp.; E, T. scabrosus Beauv. ; F, T. monackus Hbst.;
G. T. asper Lee.; H, T. suberosus Fab.; I, T. punctattis Germ.; J, T. carinatus, n. sp.
MAR. 4, 1922 LOOMIS : NEW SPECIKS COLEOPTEROUS GENUS TROX 135
one specimen from each of the following localities, — Kncinal ( /. D. Mitchell),
Santa Rosa {H. S. Barber), El Paso (F. C. Pratt), and Lamesa {E. G. Holt).
Distinguished by the rounded tubercles of the elytra which are seldom
confluent and in rows of equal size, and also by the size and shape of the
male genitalia.
Trox inflatus Loomis, sp. nov. Body smaller and more slender than
scittellaris, elongate-oval; color black and shining when clean. Length 14
to 15 mm. Habitat, Arizona.
Thorax strongly constricted, in this respect resembling suherosus; hind
angles broadly rounded and with only a slight emargination of the margin
in front of them; disc moderately elevated, tubercles distinct, the outer
ones of the basal series the larger; in front of each are two smaller ones be-
longing to the anterior series which, with the large median pair, is composed
of six tubercles. The four rows of elongate and flattened tubercles of the
elytra hardly to be distinguished from the intervals between them; these
intervals are raised at short distances into slightly less distinct elevations
which lack the small tomentose areas following the tubercles of the major
series; usually a few small spicules in the depressions of the intervals, a
single spicule located above each of the deep punctures on either side of the
intervals; elevations of the intervals often confluent with the tubercles of
the adjacent rows; second series of tubercles ending on apical fourth in a
faint umbone. Fig. 1, D,
Type and allotype No. 25200, U. S. National Museum.
Described from two specimens; a male collected in a moist recess among
rocks on the top of a desert peak near Sacaton, Arizona, November 23, 1921,
by H. F. Loomis, and a female collected on Ash Creek in the Graham Moun-
tains of Arizona, July 2, 1914, by E. G. Holt.
From the size and general shape of the copulatory organs of the male this
species is related to scutellaris, but it differs in having the median lobe greatly
inflated and visible above the lateral lobes when viewed from the side; the
tip of the median lobe is less slender and the lateral lobes are not abruptly
constricted on the outer side near the apical third above which the lobes are
not as greatly expanded.
Trox carinatus Loomis, sp. nov. Form oboval, less compact ; color black,
surface feebly shining when clean. Length 12 to 13 mm. Habitat, south
central Arizona.
Constriction of thorax longer than in any other species dealt with, emargi-
nate throughout its length; margin sharply incised in front of hind angles
which are acute and remote from the humeri ; disc strongly elevated ; tuber-
culation resembling that of asper though hardly as coarse. Elytra each
with four prominent carinae replacing the rows of large tubercles, the two
inner carinae more pronounced; second carina ending on the apical fourth
in a tomentose and dentiform umbone; all carinae with small tomen-
tose patches on the outer side; intervals between the suture and the
first carina, between the carinae themselves and between the last carina
and the elytral margin each with two rather widely separated rows of large
and deep punctures ; surface between the rows and between the punctures in
the rows smooth and evenly rounded. Front tibia with a well developed
tooth at apical third; upper face with two rows of rather large punctures.
Copulatory organs of the male relatively short and broad; median lobe
136 JOURNAL, OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
stout, not attaining tips of the lateral lobes; inner margin of lateral lobes
strongly arcuate; basal pieces broad and enfolding much of the lateral
lobes. Fig. 1, J.
Type and allotype No. 25201, U. S. National Museum.
Described from two specimens ; a male collected with the male specimen of
inflatus near Sacaton, Arizona, November 23, 1921, by H. F. Loomis, and a
female collected in the "nest of a rat among rocks" (probably A^eo^owa) near
Tucson, Arizona, January 2, 1897, by H. G. Hubbard.
This species should probably be placed after punctatus; the carinate elytra,
the form of the thorax and the genitalia distinguishing it from that species
and all others. Tibial punctures are found in most of the species of Trox,
but their size and disposition have some specific importance. In scabrosus,
monachus and asper these punctures are small or entirely lacking, in the
other species here treated the rows are much more irregular than in carinatus.
ABSTRACTS
At a meeting of the Council of the Washington Academy of Sciences on January 16,
1922, it was decided to discontinue the section of formal abstracts in the Journal. It
will be replaced by a section devoted to brief notes of recent publications.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
BOTANICAL vSOCIETY
A special meeting of the Botanical Society of Washington was held at
the Cosmos Club on Monday, June 26, 1921, to hear Prof. J. F. Rock of the
Office of Foreign vSeed and Plant Introduction, who had just returned from an
extended trip in the Orient, where he traveled up the rivers of Siam and
Burma and through the forests to find the chaulmoogra oil trees. This oil
has lately been used in Hawaii for the treatment of leprosy with such success
that already two hundred patients have been declared free from all sumptoms
of the disease. According to Hindoo legend and literature, moreover, this
oil has been used for a thousand years by the natives of the Far East.
The trip was made by Prof. Rock for the purpose of investigating the
various species of Taraktogenos and Hydnocarpus and to collect viable seeds
for germination purposes, especially those of Taraktogenos kurzii which seeds
are known to produce the true chatilmoogra oil.
Hydnocarpus anthelmintica was obtained by Prof. Rock in Bangkok and
Eastern Siam. Camp was established in the northern Lao States on Mt.
Dai Chom Cheng and this mountain was explored for economic plants, among
which species of Castanea or chestnuts, and a number of Qtiercus or oaks were
secured. He followed the Meh Ping River by Lao houseboat to Rahong, a
journey of ten days, making collections on the way. From Raheng he crossed
overland with coolies to Moulmein, Burma, thence to Martaban, where
Hydnocarpus castanea was obtained. The first specimen of Taraktogenos
MAR. 4, 1922 proceedings: botanical society 137
kurzii encountered was at Thynganyinon, one day's journey from the Siamese
Boundary in Burma. From Martaban he proceeded to Rangoon, thence to
Monywa on the Upper Chindurin. From there he went by boat (stern-
wheeler) to Mawlaik in northwestern Burma. At Mawlaik he was informed
that Taraktagenos kurzii could be obtained near some jungle villages on the
Khodaun stream. The best locality and where he found pure stands of
Taraktogenos kurzii was near Kyokta, a small village of about thirty houses.
Seeds were collected in large quantities and forwarded directly to Hawaii
and Washington after the party again reached civilization. In northeastern
Assam, in India proper, seed was secured of Gynocardia odorata, and of
Taraktogenos kurzii, which is also found there.
Besides finding Taraktogenos kurzii and photographing it for the first time.
Prof. Rock found a number of hitherto imknown species belonging either to
Taraktogenos or Hydnocarpus.
Gathering of the seeds of the chaulmoogra oil tree has been a regular
occupation of the natives for generations. This seed collecting, however,
has been carried on very uneconomically because of the fact that the animals
of the forest feed upon the fruit, and destroy a high percentage of seed, the
natives getting only what the animals leave. The supply of seeds in the
world's market is therefore very inadequate. Prof. Rock's work, therefore,
was to find the trees that produced the seed and make collections of seed of
Taraktogenos kurzii and other chaulmoogra oil-producing species so that the
trees could be introduced in cultivation. This he succeeded in doing, tra-
versing the forests of Siam and Burma where few white men had ever gone.
The Government of Hawaii has set aside one hundred acres of suitable
mountain slopes for the planting of these species. The seeds brought back
have all germinated and are growing well both in Hawaii and in this country.
Following Prof. Rock's address Dr. F. B. Power, authority on the chemistry
of the chaulmoogra oil, was called upon for remarks.
After expressing his appreciation of the interesting and instructive dis-
course by Professor Rock, Dr. Power spoke as follows:
"My attention was first particularly drawn to the subject of chaulmoogra
oil while in London by an inquiry from the Leper Hospital at Robben Island,
South Africa, respecting its active constituents. At about the same time
it was recorded by Mr. E. M. Holmes {Pharm. J. 1900, 64, 522; 1901, 66,
596) on the authority of vSir David Prain, then Director of the Botanic Survey
of India and now Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, that chaul-
moogra oil is not obtained from the seeds of Gynocardia odorata R. Br., as had
previously been assumed, but from the seeds of Taraktogenos kurzii King.
Shortly after these observations a large quantity of true chaulmoogra seeds
was brought into the London market, and this afforded an opportunity for the
investigation of the fatty oil expressed from them, which was conducted by
me and my co-workers in the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories.
"A survey of the hterature pertaining to chaulmoogra oil rendered it evident
that very little of a definite nature was known regarding its constituents, and
it was subsequently shown that the so-called "gynocardic acid," which had
been stated to melt at 29.5° C. and was employed to some extent medicinally,
consisted of a mixture of fatty acids. One of the first results of the investiga-
tion undertaken by us was the isolation of a beautifully crystalline acid,
melting at 68° C, which was optically active, [a]^ -f 56°, andfound to possess
the formula C18H32O2. This was designated chaulmoogric acid, with reference
to the vernacular name of the oil. It exists in the oil as a glyceryl ester or
138 JOURNAL OF TH:e WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIEINCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
glyceride, and represents one of its chief constituents. Although chaul-
moogric acid is isomeric with HnoHc acid, it is capable of absorbing but two
atomic proportions of iodine or bromine, and therefore must contain in its
structure a closed carbon ring, as has indeed been shown to be the case.
A lower homologue of this acid was subsequently found in the oil, and on
account of having first been isolated from the oils expressed from seeds of two
species of Hydnocarpus, viz. H. Wightiana, Blume and H. anthelmintica,
Pierre, it was designated hydnocarpic acid. This acid possesses the formula
C16H28O2, melts at 60° C, and, like chaulmoogric acid, is optically active,
having [a]D + 68°. Many derivatives were made of these acids, including
their methyl and eth}^ esters, and their constitution was completely eluci-
dated.
"In order to ascertain the character of the oil obtained from the seeds of
Gynocardia odorata, a quantity of fresh material was specially collected for
us in India. The examination of this oil showed it to possess none of the
characters of true chaulmoogra oil, thus completely confirming the observa-
tions of vSir David Prain respecting the botanical source of chaulmoogra
seeds. The gynocardia oil at ordinary temperatures is a liquid, whereas
chaulmoogra oil is a soft solid. It is, furthermore, optically inactive, and
contains none of the members of the chaulmoogric acid series, but more closely
resembles linseed oil in its composition. Both the true chaulmoogra seeds
and gynocardia seeds develop hydrogen cyanide in contact with water, show-
ing the presence of a cyanogenetic glucoside. This substance has been iso-
lated from the gynocardia seeds, and is a handsomely crystalline compound,
possessing the formula C1.3H19O9N, which has been designated gynocardin.
It is accompanied in the seed by an enzyme termed gynocardase.
"The literature pertaining to all the above-mentioned investigations, to
which several years were devoted, may be found in the Transactions of the
Chemical Society of London, 1904, 85, 838; 1905, 87, 349, 884, 896; 1907, 91,
557.
"Inasmuch as several articles have recently been published in this country
and abroad, chiefly in the medical press, indicating that some new derivatives
of chaulmoogra oil have been used in the modern treatment of leprosy, it
seems desirable to note that such statements are evidently incorrect. The
preparations employed have been the ethyl esters of chaulmoogric and
hydrocarpic acids, which were first made and fully described nearly twenty
years ago in connection with the investigations above cited. It is the use
of these compounds by intramuscular injection, instead of the administration
and external application of crude chaulmoogra oil, that has recently led to
such successful results in the treatment of leprosy."
Fruit and seeds of the chaulmoogra oil tree were exhibited. One hundred
and ten persons were present.
Following the meeting was a social hour with refreshments.
Roy G. Pierce, Recording Secretary.
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
The 158th meeting of the Academy, held at the Public Library the even-
ing of Thursday, October 20, 1921, was devoted to a discussion of Readable
Books in Science, in connection with the list of "One Hundred Popular Books
in Science," prepared at the suggestion of Dr. Georgk F. Bowerman by a
committee of the Academy and published in the Journal. (11: 353-366.
MAR. 4, 1922 proceedings: Washington academy of sciences 139
September 19, 1921.) The purpose of the Hst was discussed briefly by Doctor
Bowerman, the methods of compilation and editing of the list by Dr. Rob-
ert B. SoSMAN, the mathematical, astronomical, and meteorological books by
Dr. W. J. Humphreys, the mineralogical and petrological books by Dr. E. T.
Wherry, and the botanical books by Dr. H. L. ShanTz, following which
there was a general discussion of the project by several of the previous
speakers and by Alfred H. Brooks, W. L. Schmitt, W. D. Coi^lins, W. H.
BixBY, and others.
Adjournment was then taken to inspect the following three exhibits:
(1) The one hundred popular books; (2) books suggested for the popular
list, but not used; (3) books suggested for a proposed list of readable man-
uals or information books, such as a specialist in one field would recommend
to another investigator who was quite unfamiliar with that field.
The 159th meeting of the Academy was held jointly with the Biological
Society of Washington and the Botanical Society of Washington at the
Cosmos Club the evening of Saturday, November 12, 1921. Professor
Arthur de Jaczewski delivered an address on The Development of Mycology
and Pathology in Russia. He was followed by Prof. Nicholas I. Vavilov, who
spoke upon Russian work in Genetics and Plant Breeding. Following the pre-
sentation of these addresses Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, Permanent Secretary
of the National Research Council, Dr. Erwin F. Smith, and others, spoke
briefly of conditions in Russia and of the pleasant and mutually beneficial
interrelations of Russian and American scientists.
The 160th meeting of the Academy was held at the Cosmos Club, the
evening of Thursday, November 17, 1921, at 8:15. Dr. H. D. Curtis,
Director of the Allegheny Observatory, Pittsburgh, delivered a popular ad-
dress on The Sun, our nearest star.
In introducing the subject, the speaker stated two simple equations:
(1) Our sun = a star; (2) any star = a sun; which, though simple, are apt to
be forgotten when one contemplates the Milky Way. Our own sun is but
a unit in a collection of perhaps a thousand million closely similar suns form-
ing our own stellar universe. There are, perhaps, a million other stellar uni-
verses, as large as our own and each with a billion suns, within the ken of
our great telescopes. Out own sun, though 866,000 miles in diameter,
and 1,300,000 times the volume of our earth, is a relatively insignificant
star, which, if moved to the distance of the star clouds of the Milky Way,
would appear merely as another faint point of light added to the rich com-
plex. The mightiest stars, at their magnificent distances of hundreds or
thousands of light-years, appear no larger in our greatest telescopes; for
example, Betelgeuse, which in volume would probably contain 27,000,000
globes the size of our own.
The speaker discussed recent studies of the Sun — advances in photography
and spectroscopic analysis, and their bearing on unexplained or little under-
stood phenomena; theories designed to account for the peculiar law of ro-
tation of the sun ; sun-spots as high-temperature solar storms ; their periodic-
ity; the Sun as an almost infinitely old and wonderfully perfect heat-engine
radiating heat at a temperature of between 5,000° and 8,000° C, with an
energy of about 75,000 horsepower per square yard of sun surface; the age
of the Sun, and hypotheses bearing upon the source of the Sun's heat; the
wonderful balance of forces existing within the Sun ; the correlation between
changes in heat emission and terrestrial climatology, and its supremely im-
portant bearing upon the origin and maintenance of terrestrial life.
140 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
"As we contemplate the complexity of the details of the solar surface, the
constant change of form in faculae, spots, and prominences, the balance
of forces which has maintained the average energy of the Sun so constant for
hundreds of millions of years is certainly a remarkable fact of nature, and lends
indirect support to the postulation of an enormous duration of life for the
average star.
"In our nearest star, then, we see a star which appears to be about an aver-
age star in surface characteristics, light emission, and size. It is a fair rep-
resentative of the stars in general ; there are literally tens of millions of copies
of it out in space. This great heat-engine is pretty certainly a billion, and
more probably a hundred billion years old. Certainly for 200,000,000 years,
perhaps for a billion or more years, it has not varied permanently as much as
200° C. from its effective temperature of perhaps 5,600° C."
William R. Maxon, Recording Secretary.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol.. 12 March 19, 1922 No. 6
GENERAL SCIENCE. — Psychophysics as the key to the mysteries of
physics and of metaphysics.^ Leonard Thompson Troland,
Harvard University.
I. THE PRESENT PHILOSOPHICAL STATUS OE PHYSICAL SCIENCE
Physical science begins with the naive man's division of his every-
day experience into external and internal portions. One of these
portions comprises for the primitive intellect an external world while
the other part makes up the man's own personal feelings. The line
of demarcation between these two segments of experience seems at
first sight to be quite distinct. There are, however, obvious affilia-
tions between components of the two subdivisions of experience.
One's own body, as visually or tactually perceived, is a portion of
his external experience, but its posture and its movements are normally
correlated with internal feelings, this correlation giving rise to the idea
of will, or the control of one's own externally perceived body and its
relations to the external world, by changes in the internal feelings.
The notion of consciousness in other men is at first simply a belief
in the existence of further systems of internal feelings which are corre-
lated with the behavior of other externally perceived organisms which
resemble in general form, if not in central position, the organism of
the given individual.
For the primitive intellect, standing at the threshold of scientific
inquiry, physics would undoubtedly be the science of the external
world thus defined, while psychology would be the science of the in-
ternal system of feelings or of any other similar system of feelings which
might be inferred to exist beyond the experience of the given observer.
However, as science advances on its quest for knowledge the province
of physics in relation to experience constantly narrows, while that
of psychology undergoes a compensatory expansion. The naive
physicist looks upon his external experience as being independent
of himself because, with the single exception of his own externally
1 Received Jan. 28, 1922.
141
142 JOURNAL OF THB WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
perceived organism, it does not immediately follow the dictates of
his feelings. This demand, that physics should conceive a universe
which is independent for its properties of any particular observer, has
been implicitly observed by all physical thinkers down to very recent
times. Its actual consequences have been precisely that narrowing
of the domain of physics within experience to which I have adverted.
The end result, as it appears in the Einstein theory of relativity,
seems to have been the complete elimination of the direct data of
experience from the domain of physics and consequently a reduction
to an irreconcilable contradiction, of the respective demands that
physics should be strictly empirical and yet at the same time should
describe a universe which is independent of any given experience.
The first step in the gradual reduction of the physicist's domain
within experience involved the accumulation of a long list of so-called
secondary qualities which constitute what the psychologists now re-
gard as external sensations. The qualities which headed this list
were naturally those which bore the greatest similarity to the internal
feelings which were the initial subject matter of mental science. Under
critical examination we find that the external and internal qualities
are not so very different after all so that they can be arranged into
a nearly continuous series in order of their projicient character. Chem-
istry at an early date eliminated qualities of taste and smell from its
catalog of supposedly actual properties of specific material substances,
regarding the gustatory and olfactory characteristics as being merely
psychological tests indicative of certain molecular forms of consti-
tution. The theory of heat soon became inconsistent with the exis-
tence of two qualitatively opposed thermal elements corresponding
with our experiences of cold and of heat, respectively, so that these
two distinctive constituents of immediate experience had also to be
banished from the domain of physics. The earlier physicists regarded
color as an objective property of light or of bodies, but with Newton
we find color being treated as a sensation, or as something produced
by the organism under the influence of light, which latter in itself
is not colored, being not even white or black. With the introduction
of the wave theory of radiation, color necessarily and permanently
lost its position as a subject matter of physical science, and was
relegated to psychology. The wave theory of sound did a similar
thing for auditory qualities of pitch and noise. In Helmholtz's
two great works dealing, respectively, with physiological optics and
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 143
physiological acoustics we find the most eminent physicist of the
nineteenth century explicitly treating both color and tone as physiolog-
ical or psychological entities.
Up to the advent of the theory of relativity (in the twentieth
century) it appeared that this process of eliminating the qualitative
constituents of external experience from the domain of physics still
left within this latter domain three distinctive factors: those of space,
mass, and time. The physicist of this period was painstakingly
construing all of his data and theories in terms of the centimeter,
the gram and the second. These were regarded as being the ultimate
physical dimensions, out of which all other physical conceptions
m.ust be synthesized. It is true that the developing theory of elec-
tricity apparently demanded two other dimensions: those of di-
electric capacity and of magnetic permeability, respectively, but
these latter conceptions attached more to the hypotheses of physics
than to its actual measurements. Now from the point of view of
psychology or the analysis of immediate experience, space, mass, and
time are radically different categories. Only mass can properly be
regarded as being interpretable as a quality of experience. As such
it is clearly identifiable with sensations or experiences derived from
the so-called proprioceptors, or the sense organs of the motor mechan-
isms of the body, including not only the muscles but the tendons and
the joints. It is probable, however, that this feeling of bodily effort
is more immediately associated with the conception of force than of
mass, so that it may be necessary to regard mass as being derived
from it by combination with the concept of acceleration, which is a
special relationship between spatial and temporal magnitudes. It
is of interest that the kinaesthetic quality, which is one of the cardinal
constituents of internal experience, should turn out to be about the
last directly qualitative experimental factor to remain in the system
of physical thinking.
Space, from the psychological point of view, may in some cases
be regarded as forming a distinctive qualitative constituent of con-
sciousness. There are sensations for example which possess a spatial
or extensive quality while others are lacking in this attribute. In
the majority of instances however' we are forced to regard space in
experience as representing a form of combination of elementary qualities
rather than as comprising such a quality in itself. In this sense space
is a category of structure rather than of substance. Visually perceived
144 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
surfaces for instance are to be regarded as concatenations of color
elements, which latter in themselves cannot constitute any surface,
however small. On the other hand, the impression of empty space
separating the eye from the color surface must be regarded as
involving a distinctive visual element of depth, which cannot be
identified with color; these depth elements, however, are in them-
selves non-structural and must be arranged into a structure in
order to present an experience of distance or of volume. Now, it
is clearly the structural rather than the substantial aspect of spacial
experience which physics considers. The physicist arranges his units
of mass in imagination into a three-dimensional pattern which is struc-
turally similar to the arrangements of qualities, such as color or touch
sensations which he finds in immediate experience. The similarity
however, is not complete, since none of the spaces, visual, tactual
or auditory, of our consciousness are strictly Euclidean in character.
They are all more or less anisotropic or possessed of different properties
in different directions, and they are obviously very imperfect and
incomplete in relation to the totality of the universe.
The category of time, again, is psychologically quite distinct in
nature from those of mass or of space. Time is not qualitative,
neither is it structural, for it concerns quite another aspect of exper-
ience, namely its liability to change. The idea of time is inflexibly
bound up with the fact that experience is a process or a flux. This
flux consists in the replacement of one form of consciousness by a
different one. Within consciousness or experience in concrete form
such processes involve transmutations not only of structures but
of qualities. Physics, however, having eliminated the latter, must
confine itself to changes in spacial structure, or to motion. Time,
for physics, thus becomes a conception of the relation between motion
and the thing which moves ; in any single instance it is measured by
the ratio of a distance to a velocity, a definition which must be supple-
mented in situations involving a multiplicity of concurrent motions,
by a definition of simultaneity. Time, both from a psychological
and from a physical or mathematical point of view, is a complex
conception based upon two ultimate facts: those of change and of
the interdependency of concurrent changes.
Although the relations between the space, mass and time concepts
of physics and the corresponding conceptions relating to immediate
experience are clearly somewhat involved, it was nevertheless possible
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 145
for a philosophically uncritical physicist prior to the advent of rela-
tivity theory to regard his subject matter as an actual abstraction
from immediate experience. I say "philosophically uncritical" be-
cause even before the advent of the Einsteinian theory a very close
scrutiny of the relations obtaining between physical ideas and the
actual data of consciousness would have revealed serious difficulties
in their identification at any point. These difficulties were manifest
to Bishop Berkeley, several centuries ago, when he wrote his essay
on A New Theory of Vision and maintained that the primary as well
as the secondary qualities of external experience could not be regarded,
as required by the physicist's formula, as being independent of the
observing individual. If the structures and the changes of physics
differ ever so minutely from those which occur in the experience of
the observer they cannot be identical with the latter, and must there-
fore be conceived as comprising a separate though possibly a very
similar system of things. It is doubtful whether even with the assis-
tance of the notion of universals, or of platonic ideas, we can legiti-
mately conceive even absolutely similar structures as being numerically
identical, if the substances which enter into these structures are differ-
ent in kind. The fact that our perceptions of spacial, massive, and
temporal relationships are conditioned, as was emphasized in Berke-
ley's classical monograph, upon physiological processes is not in itself
proof that these perceptions do not actually include portions of the
physical universe. However, the neo-realistic philosophies which
explicitly assume this possibility have not as yet succeeded in develop-
ing an explanation of the universe which is either simple or plausible.
The acceptance of the principle of relativity settles this dispute
within the domain of physical methods alone by admitting that
measurements within all three of the fundamental dimensions of
physics are conditional for their objective significance upon the con-
ditions of observation. In accordance with the Einsteinian scheme,
two observers can make measurements upon what purports to be a
single object or system and these measurements may be quite dis-
crepant without either set of evaluations constituting evidence su-
perior to the other; in other words, what any individual observer
empirically finds, using the most refined methods of physical analysis
and restricting himself to the domain of space, mass and time, is still
dependent upon his own standpoint and does not comprise the only
true description of external realities. Whether an object is long
146 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
or short, or a period of time protracted or brief, depends upon the
rate of motion of the observer with respect to the system which con-
tains them, and since there is no criterion of absolute motion, one
observer's results are as good as those of any other. The ultimate
units of physical science are shown to be purely relative to the con-
ditions of their establishment. Such are the assumptions which are
necessary to the simplest and apparently the only plausible solution
of the conflicts between the systems of physical data which have
developed from astronomical, optical and electro-magnetic observa-
tions. In this situation we see the purposes and the facts of physics
itself driving the physicist into a repudiation of the last scrap of em-
pirical meaning which it would be possible otherwise by the greatest
effort of imagination to read into his system. Thus, in spite of the
realism of the naive and materialistic mind, does psychology at last
fall heir to the whole of its natural estate: the totality of immediate
experience.
What under these circumstances may we consider to be the estate
of physics? Physical formulae, although robbed of their empirical
meaning, nevertheless purport to describe a permanent external
system of things. How shall we conceive the intrinsic nature of this
external system and what exactly are its relations with the system
of immediate experience? If space, mass and time, as we ordinarily
conceive them, cannot be supposed to exist in this objective physical
system, it is still possible that fundamental dimensions of a different
character may exist and be such as to resolve the conflict between the
results of separate observers formulated in ordinary C. G. S. termi-
nology. Minkowski's symbolic scheme in which time is made a fourth
dimension — coordinate with the three dimensions of space — suggests
a system of this sort but is not the only alternative nor is it a very
intelligible one.
This is the mystery into which modern physics has led us. The prob-
lem of the nature of the external universe which physics set out to
solve has virtually been abandoned by the physicist, for his present-
day description of the universe is couched in terms and in a form to
which we can assign no direct empirical meaning. He provides us
with the logical skeleton of a system which has no living tissue. What
can we do to bring this skeleton to life? In this situation it seems that
physics itself can provide us with no further assistance and it is there-
fore necessary to turn back to the sister science, psychology, whose
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 147
domain has expanded within experience as that of physics has per-
force contracted. The data of psychology and the facts which relates
these data with the physical system, in psychophysiology, may pro-
vide us with a clew to the mystery.
II. THE interrelation OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND RESPONSE
When the physicist rejects from the domain of his science a quality
of immediate experience, he ordinarily substitutes for it in his system
some physical conception expressible in C. G. S. terms. For example,
pitch is replaced by a certain frequency of vibration of material par-
ticles, while color finds its substitute in very much higher frequencies
of electro-magnetic oscillation; hotness and coldness are replaced
by certain ranges of kinetic energy of molecular vibration. These
surrogate physical conceptions turn out for the psychologist to be the
stimuli of the respective qualities, when the latter are regarded as
sensations. However, these stimuli do not operate directly upon
consciousness, or immediate experience, but rather upon the physio-
logical organism, taking effect at certain sense organs or receptors
which are differentially tuned to respond to various forms of physical
activity. Pure introspective psychology is compelled to restrict
itself to the analytic description of immediate experience, but psy-
chology in general or at large inevitably becomes involved in a study
of the relationships existing between immediate experience and the
living organism. This organism is throughout essentially a concep-
tion of physical science, it being the creed of mechanism or of anti-
vitalism in biology that all organic structures and processes can ulti-
mately be reduced to physico-chemical constituents. Biology, like
chemistry, is in other words, simply a special department of physics
dealing with the properties of particular complex physical structures.
We are all familiar with the fact that the modern physicist con-
ceives the ultimate substance of all physical things and processes to
be what he pleases to call electrical. Electricity, positive and negative,
is the fundamental mass-carrying entity of the physical universe,
and all actions or interactions are ultimately the expression of elec-
trical, or of the correlated magnetic, forces. If living organisms are
simply aggregates of chemical molecules and if such molecules are
simply definite congeries of atoms, and if atoms furthermore are
nothing but constellations of protons and electrons ; then fundamentally
organisms are simply vastly intricate structures of these ultimate
electrical units and organic functions are wholly reducible to the com-
148 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
plex interplay of the electromagnetic forces which are associated with
these physical particles. The fact that the intrinsic nature of elec-
tricity is not specified by physics, which rests content with its defini-
tion in terms of its external dynamic relationships, is merely a further
aspect of the general inability of physics to describe its universe in
imaginable terms. However, our ignorance of the nature of electrons
and protons in and for themselves does not prevent us from ascer-
taining and describing the structures or processes into which they
enter.
The psychologist, as a psychophysiologist, discovers that conscious-
ness is at least in part representable as a mathematical function of
certain aspects of organic structure and activity. Each individual
consciousness appears to be determined by the nature and reactions
of a particular corresponding physiological mechanism. There are
as many fields of consciousness, or streams of experience, as there
exist living organisms, in particular human organisms. It seems to
naive observation and thought as if consciousness were a product of
the organic mechanism, as well as if it were capable in turn of in-
fluencing that mechanism. This is the doctrine of "interactionism"
in psychophysiology. However, the difficulty of conceiving a transfer
of energy from the physical organic system to consciousness or the
reverse is so great that the majority of psychologists prefer the doc-
trine of psychophysical parallelism according to which a functional
or determinative relationship obtains between the two systems with-
out either being regarded as causally dependent upon the other.
That this is an unsatisfactory doctrine may be freely admitted, but
upon a level of philosophical argument which (erroneously) regards
the psychical and the physical systems as of coordinate reality it
cannot be avoided.
The first aspect of the functional relationship between conscious-
ness and physiological factors which becomes available to the psycho-
physiologist is that which obtains between sense qualities and stimuli.
We have noted previously that when the physicist ousted color from
the domain of his science he substituted for it, electro-magnetic waves
of certain specified length, and since the latter are conceived to be
portions of the physical world while the former are now considered
as psychological entities merely, this act of the physicist at once
establishes a definite psychophysical relationship. From the point
of view of the physicist, color and wave-length are simply associated
MAR. 19, 1022 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 149
factors in the external environment of the organism, but the psycho-
physiologist soon finds that the association is brought about purely
through the medium of factors lying within the organism. He finds
that electro-magnetic wave-lengths entail the existence of color only
if they are acting, or are capable of acting, upon the retina of the
eye, and moreover only if the resulting stimulation of the optic re-
ceptors is followed by a nerve current set up in the optic fibers and
even then only if this current is permitted to flow into the higher
nerve centers of the cerebral cortex. A still closer study of the facts
shows that the intraorganic factors in this process are apparently
more essential than are the stimuli which constitute the physicist's
substitute for color. The actual colors which are aroused by given
stimuli depend radically upon the condition and the biological type
of the stimulated nervous system, and conditions are readily found
under which colors appear in the entire absence of a sensory stimulus,
and indeed even without the assistance of any current within the
optic nerves. What is true of color in these respects holds equally
for all other sensory qualities. But this is not all. The same con-
siderations appear to apply also to the primary qualities of space,
mass and time in so far as they are given in the immediate experience
of any individual. In a word, immediate experience in its totality is
determined by the operations of the nervous system.
The typical plan of a nervous process is that of what we may call
the response arc. Physically considered, neuro-muscular response
is merely a special, very intricate, example of the propagation of physical
disturbances along a restricted conduction path. The process con-
sists of a series of stages following each other in space and in time,
each depending for its exact character in part upon the nature of its
predecessor and in part upon the particular elements in the nervous
mechanism which are carrying it. The characteristic successive
stages of a response process may be listed as follows: (1) the physical
object, (2) the stimulus, (3) the sense organ process, (4) the receptor
process, (5) the afferent nerve stimulation, (6) the afferent nerve
conduction, (7) the central synaptic process, (8) the efferent nerve
conduction, (9) the end plate process, (10) the effector process, (11)
the effect. This chain of events, starting with the environment and
leading back to it again, is conceived to be physically complete, at
no point involving the intervention of any psychical activity.
Now it happens that at the present time there is a slight disagree-
150 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
ment among psychologists as to exactly what selection of these various
stages of the response process will show the closest correlation with
the facts of immediate experience. However, these differences of
opinion appear to rest more upon a quest for novel viewpoints, than
upon any new data which actually contradict the classical teaching
that consciousness in its entirety is correlated directly with the central
or synaptic process alone ; for the simplest explanation of all of the
relations which are discovered by the psychophysiologist appears
to lie in the idea that the whole of experience, both external and in-
ternal, is a function of certain restricted nerve processes occurring
probably in one of the association areas of the cerebral cortex. The
correlations existing between experience and other stages in the re-
sponse are, according to this view, indirect in nature, resting upon the
purely physiological interdependencies of all of the stages in question.
If we accept this truly astounding principle of the "monophasic
cerebro-cortical determination of consciousness" the problem of
psychophysiology reduces itself in essence to a study of the laws
which relate the component variables of consciousness with those of
the cortical mechanism. So far very little which is definite has been
established along this line, but the simplest working hypothesis would
appear to be that there exists a point-to-point correspondence be-
tween the constitution of immediate experience and that of the cortical
activity so that for each distinctive characteristic of experience or
consciousness there is a corresponding attribute of the brain activity.
This is the specific form which the general doctrine of psychophysical
parallelism assumes under the influence of the monophasic cerebro-
cortical theory. The structures of consciousness, in harmony with
this view, would probably depend upon the structural interconnections
of various active brain elements ; the unity or coherence of conscious-
ness would be correlated with the electrical continuity of the fields
of excitation which make up the cortical synergy while the various
qualities which form the substance of consciousness would presumably
be determined by the varieties of atomic or molecular structure to be
found in the various cortical synapses.
III. THE METAPHYSICS OF THE PSYCHOPHYSICAL RELATION
Having considered the outcome of sophisticated reasoning in the
domains of physics and of psychology, let us return once more to the
point of view of the primitive intelligence with which we began.
Let each one of us, for the moment, identify himself with this in-
I
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 151
telligence. I will speak in the second person to enforce the realism of
the argument which is to follow. At the start you, the naive thinker,
divided your total experience into internal and external sections,
assigning the study of the former to psychology and of the latter to
physics. At first you regarded the whole of your external experience
as forming part of a world which existed independently of your ex-
perience, but as you progressed in your physical thinking you found
that more and more factors in your external experience failed to meas-
ure up to the demands of this belief and hence had to be rejected from
the subject matter of your physical science. Eventually you retained
only space, mass, and time, substituting complications of these for
all other empirical factors, but then Einstein appeared upon the scene
and proved to you that these also could not be conceived to exist
unmodified apart from your own experience. You then found your-
self in the predicament of having built up a highly specific and intricate
logical system, to the component terms of which you eould no longer
attach any imaginable meaning. This logical system, written in
symbols in your books, still purported to refer to a real external uni-
verse, but what that universe could be like in itself was a question
which you now found yourself quite unable to answer. To say that
its ultimate substance is electricity would merely be to confess im-
plicitly that, although you knew something about it, you knew nothing
at all of it.
In this situation you seem about to admit your complete ignorance
of the nature of any reality apart from your own immediate experience.
But if you will ponder a moment you will find already resident in
your thought a very potent belief in the existence of certain realities
apart from your experience, but realities which are, in general, quite
different from any part of the physical world. The realities in ques-
tion are the consciousnesses, or experiences, of other men. These
you suppose to be similar in character to your own consciousness
but nevertheless to be quite separable from the latter and to be en-
tirely independent of it for their continued existence. In order again
to lend realism to the argument I will take as an example of other
consciousness my own experience contrasted with yours. Suppose
now that, having become interested in consciousness, you become a
psychophysiologist and work out the relationship which must be
conceived to exist between my consciousness, or experience, and your
symbolic physical world. You will find, as we have seen, that my
152 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. G
consciousness is correlated point for point with certain physical struc-
tures and processes occurring within a very restricted portion of your
physical system which you call my brain process. This physical
brain process of course you cannot for a moment conceive to exist
apart from your own consciousness and even here it will ordinarily
have only symbolic or logical existence ; you think, talk and write
about it a great deal but, except in the rare instances where you happen
to be a brain surgeon and I happen unfortunately to be your patient,
you never come anywhere near seeing it. But even if you were actually
to perceive my brain process in all of its molecular detail you would
not dare to affirm its external reality any more as a system of C. G. S.
quantities than as an arrangement of color surfaces in space. Yet
you do believe firmly that your conception of the structures and proc-
esses of my brain does, like the remainder of your conceived physical
universe, correspond with some reality external to your experience
the logical constitution of which is closely similar to that of your
physical scheme.
Under these circumstances can you not most assuredly be convicted
of intellectual incapacity if you do not recognize in my consciousness
itself a perfectly good reality which may constitute the actual meaning
of your physical symbol called a brain process? In your ultimate
philosophy of physical science you affirm that all of your physical
equations stand in point to point correspondence with an unknown
reality. In your interpretation of the data of psychophysiology you
affirm in the doctrine of the parallelism between consciousness and
the brain process that my individual experience stands in exactly
this relation to a certain part of your physical system. Why, then,
should you not admit that my experience is the reality towards which
this particular section of your physical system has always been point-
ing?
This is a doctrine which is easily heard but which is very difficult
to see. It rhymes with the evidence, but yet it seems to conflict too
much with common sense; with common sense physics and with
common sense psychology. We have too long considered mind and
matter to be two irreconcilably disparate but nevertheless interacting
entities; matter a substance and mind an intangible activity. Now
we are required to treat mind as if it were a substance and to identify
it with the reality of matter. The doctrine is apt to cause much con-
fusion in our thoughts because it turns all of our old mental furniture
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 153
topsy turvy. Nevertheless, if it is accepted and its implications
followed it will be found to clarify and to simplify our entire concep-
tion of the universe. It can solve, firstly certain profound mysteries
into which we are led by modern physics, the mystery of electricity,
the riddle of relativity, and — I am inclined to believe — the enigma
of the quantum theory; secondly, it will obliterate the dualism of
mind and matter by actually explaining the relation of psychophysical
parallelism upon a monistic basis; and thirdly it will provide us with
an organon for the systematic and rational study of the real universe
which lies beyond our own individual experiences.
A theory possessing powers such as we have just alleged should be
expected, once it was clearly formulated, to take the philosophical
world by storm. Sad to relate, this expectation seems doomed to
disappointment. The father of psychophysics, G. T. Fechner, stated
the doctrine in principle in 1863. W. K. Clifford rediscovered it
in 1878. Alfred Barrat evolved practically the same doctrine in 1883
but his book seems quite unknown to any other writers on the subject.
Independently in 1885 it was evolved by Dr. Morton Prince. But in
1903 and 1905 it was elaborately expounded practically without reference
to previous expositions, by C. A. Strong and G. Heymans, respectively.
Only two English speaking psychologists, Stout and McDougall,
have taken any cognizance of the doctrine, although it eliminates
difficulties concerning the discussion of which psychologists have
wasted thousands of pages of manuscript. I worked out the theory
myself in great elaboration, probably from suggestions contained in
Paulsen's Introduction to Philosophy in my undergraduate days.
Heymans' book, which appeals to me as being the keenest discussion
of metaphysical problems which I have ever read, appears to be en-
tirely unknown in the department of philosophy at Harvard and at
no time during my own study in that department do I remember
having heard the theory of psychical monism mentioned even cas-
ually.
The failure of the doctrine to take root in the minds of philosophers
and psychologists is due I believe to their habitually fuzzy methods
of thinking. It is a doctrine much better adapted in form to the
mathematical mind of the physical scientist. But although the
form will suit the physicist the substance unfortunately probably
will not do this. Here, again, it may fall upon barren soil, but I am
trying the experiment of sowing it there now.
154 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
IV. THE PSYCHICAL MONIST's UNIVERSE
In order to show how our hypothesis may possibly accomplish
some of the great things claimed for it, we must elaborate its implica-
tions in further detail. Let us adhere to the use of the second and
first persons as before to make vivid the situations which are involved.
You must begin your thought with the assumption that the reality
lying behind your idea or perception of my cerebral process is simply
my total introspective consciousness. The various material or dy-
namic components which you perceive or conceive within this brain
mechanism are merely the individual representations within your own
consciousness of these components of my consciousness. Each element
in your picture of my brain process is in reality simply an element of
your own consciousness, but it may be considered as an efect or product,
however remote, of the action of a corresponding, but ordinarily quite
different, element in my consciousness. The structure of the brain
process is but the reflection in a psychophysical mirror of the structure
of consciousness; although it is a product not so much of optical
as of philosophical reflection.
It should be clear to you at once that this hypothesis quite resolves
the dualism of mind and matter and provides a real explanation of
the psychophysical relation. It destroys the dualism by dethroning
matter from its exalted seat as a peer among substances with mind.
Matter, or electricity, is denied existence except in so far as it is
actually presented within any given concrete field of experience, but
within such a field it cannot be the matter concerning which physics
speaks and can only constitute psychological matter or specific per-
ceptual complexes of sensory qualities. Hence in so far as our doc-
trine of psychic monism admits the existence of matter, it classes it
as a subdivision of consciousness. The physical systems which
we are considering in our discussion of the brain process, however,
do not even have this degree of reality, since all that is presented in
consciousness at the moment of discussion are complexes of visual
or auditory sensations or images which are commonly called words.
These words, it is true, are supposed to have meanings, but the mean-
ings are by hypothesis not regarded as being within consciousness,
and hence we are quite at liberty — so far as the evidence of immediate
experience is concerned — to deny their existence altogether.
When we see thus clearly what is actual and what is possibly only
fictitious in the psychophysical relationship we recognize that this
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 155
relationship as ordinarily conceived holds between any individual
consciousness and the non-existent meaning of a physical scientific
description. The only parallelism of reality is between the conscious
svstem and the descriptive system, but the descriptive system em-
ploys, in general, terms which are not suitable to the nature of con-
sciousness. The psychical monist suggests that this is an error, the
description having actually been determined in its logical form by
unrecognized influences emanating actually from the given conscious-
ness, so that the tangled threads may be straightened out simply by
substituting in the description, terms and elementary relations which
are appropriate to psychical manifolds in general. The explanation
of psychophysical parallelism which is afforded by psychical monism
is therefore analogous to one which would show why the shadow of
a man should follow him about and be roughly similar to him in
contour and gesture. Both the shadow and the man are integral
parts of a homogeneous system, but they happen to enter into a peculiar
relationship — ^not at all characteristic of the structure of the universe
as a whole — in which there is an apparent parallelism of parts and of
activities. The psychical monist' s explanation of the functional
relationship which psychophysiology finds to hold between conscious-
ness and the brain process is every whit as good as is the physicist's
explanation, within the domain of optics, of the relationship which
obtains between object points and image points in reflecting or re-
fracting systems. The exact physical counterpart of the explanation,
however, is to be found in the relation existing between the object and
the brain process in the mechanism of response ; for the exact physical
picture of what is happening when my consciousness is acting upon
yours is given by my brain process becoming the object in the re-
sponse propagation which culminates in your brain process.
The psychical monist. however, has not finished when he has dissi-
pated the mystery of psychophysical dualism. He must go on to
consider the larger psychical universe which lies beyond your par-
ticular consciousness or mine. Since the facts of psychophysiology
indicate that my introspective consciousness correlates with only a
small portion of what you perceive or conceive as my physiological
organism, the question obviously arises as to what significance can
be assigned, in the universe external to your consciousness, to the
remainder of my organic structure and processes as conceived by you.
In the first place, you may consider the fact that not my total nervous
156 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
system nor even the whole of my cerebral activities are apparently
associated with the immediate production of my introspective con-
sciousness, but only a restricted area of the cerebral processes. How
shall you interpret the immediately outlying cortical activities? I
might answer that these are probably the results of your attempt to
conceive physically a reality which I call my subconscious mind.
vSome psychologists have experienced a great deal of difficulty in con-
ceiving the subconscious mind actually to be conscious. But from
the point of view of psychical monism this is a very easy thing to
do. Consciousness is treated as a qualitatively differentiated sub-
stance which is capable of forming systems of greater or less complexity
and of varying degrees of coherence. Just as your consciousness
and mine are both conscious yet not mutually inclusive nor even, it
would seem, connected in any conscious way, so my introspective
field of awareness and various depths of the subconscious may all be
conscious without being co-conscious or uniting to form one integral
coherent system.
If you follow this line of thought with regard to what may be called
the psychical environs of my introspective consciousness you will
be led to believe that my consciousness is psychically surrounded by
a system of psychical entities or processes bearing the same relation-
ship to it that the brain processes which envelop the central cortical
activities bear to the latter. For every neurone in the nervous system
and for every atom in each neurone there must be a real psychical
fact which is related to my consciousness just as my neurones and
their atoms are related to my central brain process. My field of
introspective consciousness must, in other words, be considered the
focus of a vast psychical nervous system, a nervous system made
not of protons and electrons but of atoms of sentiency. Within this
system there transpire propagations of influence converging upon
and diverging from my introspective field which correspond exactly
with the neuro-muscular response processes which you picture to
yourself when you are thinking of the operations of my nervous system
physically. Your physical conception of this response is indeed clearly
nothing but a symbolic representation of the real psychical response
system, which is of a sort which was functioning in connection with
the consciousness of primitive man before any of the conceptions of
modern physiology were even dreamt of.
You cannot stop here, however, you must go on to consider the
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 1,57
meaning of the non-nervous portion of my organism as you conceive
it, and, furthermore, the significance of the world of physical stimuli
and objects which surround it. The intra-organic stages of response
are merely certain links in a continuous chain of influences which
flow into the organism at the sense organs and out of it at the effectors,
and the nerv^ous mechanisms of the organism differ only quantitatively
from those of other tissues. The continuity of physical nature com-
mands that you expand your conception of the psychical universe
into a structure which corresponds point for point not only with the
parts of my nervous system but with all the constituents of my organ-
ism and of my environment ; indeed, with the totality of the physical
universe as conceived by the most comprehensive physical mind.
You are thus led to the conception of a complete universe of objective
consciousness, the formal structure of which is substantially identical
with that described by the physical sciences of biology, geology
and astronomy, but the substance of which is similar to what the
psychologist finds in immediate experience. The processes of this
great psychical world, being — like those of the physical system —
mainly a succession of different structures, must also be formally iden-
tical with those which the physical scientist describes. This inference
from the general homogeneity and continuity of the physical system
which embraces my brain mechanism, therefore leads you to a rational
and meaningful interpretation of your entire physical hypothesis.
It is this psychical universe at large, in which my consciousness and
also your own are small but integral parts, which constitutes the real
objective meaning of the relativity C. G. S. electro-magnetic schema
in general physics.
Certain apparent difficulties which arise in connection with this
doctrine can readily be shown to be specious. In the first place there
is the difficulty of conceiving consciousness or the psychical as a self-
existent substance which is capable of forming definite structures.
This difficulty arises from an adherence to the idea of consciousness
as a relation between a self or ego and an object, whereas modern
introspective psychology quite rejects this conception, along with that
of the ego, and identifies consciousness with the mosaic of sensory
and other qualities which were regarded as contents or objects of
consciousness in the older, relational theory. Consciousness, for the
modern psychologist, is essentially a mosaic which must be analyzed
into elementary qualities and their interrelations, so that pure intro-
158 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
spective psychology is often designated as structural psychology.
That the qualities and the structural coherences of consciousness are
capable of existing in their own right is certainly a reasonable supposi-
tion, since the very idea of existence must inevitably rest upon the
demonstrable reality of these data of experience . Another similarly spe-
cious difficulty appears in the persuasion that the panpsychic extension
of consciousness to correspond not only with brain processes but with
all material systems makes the universe unduly complex ; so that the
doctrine seems liable to succumb to the onslaughts of Occam's razor.
This objection is specious because psychical monism, unlike dualistic
panpsychisms, does not add consciousness to the equation of matter
but substitutes it within this equation. The resulting system is
therefore of exactly the same degree of complexity as that of physical
science and the latter has vanished from the metaphysical arena
completely, appearing now merely as stage of reasoning — like those
of pure mathematics within physics alone — leading up to the final
account of things. The psychical monist's system is, as a matter of
fact, much simpler than any materialistic scheme which acknowledges
all of the data of experience, for all such schemes inevitably demand
dualism and reduplication of factors wherever the existence of con-
sciousness can be demonstrated. For psychical monism, on the
other hand, all demonstrable fields of consciousness are merely inter-
locking parts of a system which in its totality is no more intricate
than a materialistic system which excludes all considerations of con-
sciousness.
In reality, the complete psychical system is probably even simpler
than this. The physicist thinks of each component electron or proton
in his system as retaining its discreteness or individuality regardless
of the relations of combination into which it enters with others. Syn-
thesis, for the physicist, is not of the elements themselves but only
of the structures, which are condensed in space and increased in stabil-
ity. There is convincing evidence, however, that atoms of mind-
stuff do not behave in this way, and that when they combine they
actually fuse — in varying degrees according to circumstances and
partially — or, in the limit, wholly — -lose their identity. Such fusion
results in the generation of a new over-all "form quality" of the re-
sulting integral which is the conservation index of or compensation
for the sacrificed discreteness of the combined elements. This is
real synthesis, and while it increases the qualitative diversity of the
MAR. 19, 1922 troland: psychophysics the key of physics, etc. 159
components of the universe, it greatly simplifies its structure. The
necessity for a principle of this sort operating in the psychical universe
first appears in a consideration of the relations between so-called
elementary components of experience — such as any point sensation
of color — and the corresponding brain components. Although the
former seem simple the latter must almost certainly be complex.
There are only two kinds of ultimate physical elements, positive and
negative electricity, while there are thousands and probably millions
of qualitatively distinct, irreducible, elements of consciousness. Clearly
these psychic units cannot correspond to protons and electrons or
even to specific chemical elements, but must be correlated with molec-
ular, colloidal, or crystal species.
Here the parallelism of structure between the physical and the
psychical systems appears to break down ; only in the grosser and more
disperse organizations of matter can it be conceived to hold at all
rigidly. Possibly there is some slight degree of structure in so-called
elementary qualities, but not enough to arouse an analytic judgment.
At any rate we may suppose that when such qualities decompose,
as in the analysis of a musical chord or clang, they always yield definite
end products in a definite structural relation, so that they may always
be said to have potential structure. Physics derives its physical
diagrams of the constitution of these finer parts of its universe almost
entirely from a study of the ways in which they can be formed or the
manner in which they break down, and hence may be accused of read-
ing into them an exaggerated structurality. In terms of given exis-
tence rather than of history or prophecy, however, the translation of
physical space structures into psychical realities will involve the trans-
mutation of an increasing fraction of structurality into specific quality,
as the physical mosaics become more cohesive and in general more
microscopic.
These considerations indicate that although the technique of physi-
cal thinking — according to our interpretation — is implicitly aimed
at a determination of the abstract structure of the psychical universe,
this technique is not as yet perfectly adapted to that purpose. In
regard to structure, it overshoots the mark. In other ways, it may
introduce into the physical scheme of concepts, artif actual terms and
relationships, which have the same irrelevancy to the real universe
which the surds and irrational numbers of mathematical technique
have to the physical scheme by itself. Considerations of this sort
160 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADE;mY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. G
may throw light upon certain mysteries of modern physics, such as
the quantum theory of energy transfer. This conception of atoms of
activity which seems absolutely essential to the explanation of known
laws of the emission and absorption of radiant energy appears to be
squarely in conflict with phenomena of the interference type upon
which the continuous wave hypothesis was founded.^ Is it not possible
that this quantum conception — like the irrationality of t — is attrib-
utable to an artificial incommensurability of the present concepts
of physics and the properties of the real universe? An inkling as
to the nature of this incommensurability is given by our considera-
tions regarding the reality of psychical synthesis. If the physicist
overestimates the discreteness of the various parts of the universe,
he may find it necessary to compensate for this by overestimating
the discreteness of the changes which occur within or between them.
His changes are fundamentally expressed as ratios of spaces to times
and an erroneous factor in the structural numerator of this ratio could
therefore be canceled in its influence upon conclusions by an equivalent,
erroneous factor in the temporal denominator. We might explain
the introduction of this latter factor by the hypothesis that the local
time of any single radiator is atomic or possessed of a cell structure
so that successively emitted quanta, although distributed at random
within these cells would be held in constant phase from the point of
view of a receiver, by always beginning at the front end of a given
time cell, and on the average filling large blocks of such cells homo-
geneously. But this would merely be another outrage to our common
sense ideas and a further indication of the unreality of the physicist's
schema.
It is along similar lines, that the psychical monist rationalizes the
principle of relativity. This principle immolates the stability of
empty space and time to the constancy of the velocity of light under
all conditions. But the psychical monist sees at once that empty
space and empty time have no objective meaning whatsoever. In
the psychical universe, space has significance only for the form of
combination of concrete psychical units. Where such concrete units
are absent there can be no form of combination and hence only non-
1 This paragraph was written from the point of view of J. J. Thomson's "pulse theory"
which renders understandable the mechanism of emission and absorption of quanta. The
more current idea of a quantum as a short train of continuous waves fits in better with
interference phenomena, but in doing so simply places the parado.x in a different place, in
the processes of emission and absorption.
MAR. 19, 1922 TROI^AND: PSYCHOPHYSICS THS KBY Olf PHYSICS, ETC. 161
existence. The same is true of time, which is merely an aspect of
concrete changes and their functional interrelations. Such inter-
relations are symbolized physically by the transfer of radiation, and
the velocity of this transfer is thus the natural reference constant
for the establishment of standard temporal and structural systems.
Although we may not be able from these considerations immediately
to deduce the Einsteinian equations, we can at least recognize that
the psychical monist's universe is sufficiently different from that of
non-relativity C. G. S. physics to make it possible for the equations
in question to fit its properties without inconsistency.
In conclusion a word must be said concerning the relation of the
psychical monistic hypothesis to the philosophical discipline known
as metaphysics. This discipline has several subdivisions, such as
epistemology and ontology, but one of its main efforts has always
been to determine the inherent nature of reality, and in particular
reality independent of individual experience or merely "phenomenal"
representations. For every phenomenon it has tended to postulate
a "noumenon" or a thing-in-itself. Physics, as I have interpreted
it, clearly has a strong metaphysical inclination in this respect, but
only materialistic metaphysics has accepted physics as actually answer-
ing the metaphysical, or the "metempirical" question. Metaphysi-
cians other than the materialistic ones have in general worked entirely
by arm-chair guesses or have employed idiosyncratic methods, such
as Hegel's principle of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Now, psy-
chical monism very evidently steps into the metaphysical arena with
a definite theory of the general nature of things in themselves; but
it does more than this, it brings with it a sword with which to engage
in the metaphysical fray of words: a definite method of research.
This new method or "novum organon" for metaphysics consists
simply in determining carefully the laws which link the factors of
human consciousness with those of brain function and then general-
izing these laws so that they can be applied not merely to brains but
to any physical structure or process whatsoever. The possibility of
doing this rests upon the continuity of nature and upon the belief
that human consciousness is sufficiently complex to exemplify all of
the elementary psycho-physical relationships. It is the principle
of the "flower in the crannied wall" from a careful study of which we
can infer the constitution of the entire universe.
If time permitted we might go on to apply this method at least
162 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
in a preliminary way to see to what specific depictions of the general
psychical universe it may lead us. However, I can here only express
my belief — justified by theoretical results already achieved — that
the doctrine of psychical monism will not only throw light upon the
mysteries of physics and of metaphysics but also upon those of religion
and of ethics. When we know exactly what manner of universe we
live in we shall know whither that universe is going and what our own
part must be in its evolution.
PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
BarraTT, M. a. Physical metempiric. London, ]883.
Clifford, W. K. On the nature of things in themselves. In lectures and essays. London,
1878, 2: 52-73.
Heymans, G. Einfuhrung in die Metaphysik auf Grundlage der Erfahrung. Leipzig, 1905,
pp. 218-321.
Prince, M. The nature of mind and human automatism. Philadelphia, 1885.
Prince, M. Hughlings- Jackson on the connection between the mind and the brain. Brain,
1891, 14: 250-270.
Stout, G. F. Manual of psychology. London, 1907, pp. 34-56.
Strong, C. A. Why the mtnd has a body. New York, 1903.
Troland, L. T. Paraphysical monism. Philosophical Review, 1918, 27: 37-62.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
. SOCIETIES
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
161ST MEETING
The 161st meeting of the Academy was held jointly with the Botanical
Society of Washington at the Cosmos Club, the evening of Thursday, Decem-
ber 15, 1921. Dr. WiivLiAM E. Safford, of the Bureau of Plant Industry,
IJ. S. Department of Agriculture, delivered an illustrated address upon The
food plants of Ancient America.
Every food staple encountered by the early explorers and colonists of
America was new to them. Not a single Old World cereal, vegetable, fruit
or root-crop, had found its way to this continent before the discovery. Amer-
ican agriculture, as practiced in various regions both north and south of the
equator, was endemic. The cultivated food staples had been won by the
Indians from wild shrubs and herbs: maize from a wild grass; squashes and
pumpkins from wild gourds; common beans and lima beans from legumi-
nous vines scrambling in thickets ; potatoes from a tuberous weed of the Andes ;
sweet potatoes from one of the many wild morning-glories; peanuts {Arachis
hypogea) from a wild vine that ripened its seeds under ground; tomatoes
and capsicum peppers from solanaceous plants of the hill-sides and plains;
pineapples from coarse prickly-leaved plants of certain semi-arid regions of
Central America; chocolate from the seeds of a tropical American shrub;
and tobacco from several species of clammy ill-smelling weeds allied to the
narcotic henbane of the Old World.
MAR. 19, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 163
The very early dissemination of some of these plants led to conflicting
theories as to their origin. A recent writer, unhampered by botanical knowl-
edge, declares that tobacco and several other well known American eco-
nomic plants were brought to America from the Old World. He stigmatizes
Columbus and his companions as liars, and modern ethnologists as fools.
Even botanists have advanced erroneous theories regarding the origin of
well-known food plants, one of the authorities on the gourd family, for in-
stance, declaring the squashes and pumpkins of America to be of Asiatic
origin. De Candolle himself was governed too much by acounts of early
travellers, which were often vague and unsatisfactory. Owing to such ac-
counts, the South American potato {Solanum tuberosum) has been con-
fused with the openauk, or ground-nut, of the Virginia Indians (Glycine
apios), w^hich the early French colonists called "racine a chanelet;" and the
peanut (Arachis hypogea) has been confused with the North American ground
bean {Falcata comosa) and the African Voandzeia suhterranea, both of which
have subterranean fruits. Other examples are the confusion of the American
Cucurhita maxima and C. pepo with Old World gourds. Fortunately we have
an abundance of material from prehistoric graves, including remarkably well
preserved fruits, seeds, and tubers of food plants, as well as beautiful repro-
ductions of the same in the form of funeral vases of terracotta.
Among the food products shown on the screen were specimens of maize
from ancient graves and burial mounds of South and North America ; seeds,
shells, and stems of squashes and pumpkins, and beautiful reproductions of
Cucurbita pepo and C. maxima in terracotta ; many distinct varieties of Pha-
seolus vulgaris and P. lunatus; actual specimens of Arachis hypogea in a re-
markably perfect state of preservation, and terracotta vases incrusted with
peanuts modeled from the fruits themselves; specimens and models of pota-
toes {Solanum, tuberosum), sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas), mandioca (Man-
ihot utilissima), and dichotomous roots of Canna edulis. Some of the models
were in the form of idols, one of the squashes having the figure of a god mounted
upon it, and a canna root having also a human head depicted on the prin-
cipal root. A corn god surrounded by ears of maize was in the form of a
monster with great tusks protuding from the mouth; a terracotta figure,
evidently the god of agriculture, held in one hand a stalk of maize bearing
ears and tassel and in the other a stalk of mandioca bearing a fascicle of fusi-
form roots. Many of the specimens shown were from collections made by
the lecturer while exploring in South America.
Lantern slides of wild fruits, tubers, and edible roots were also exhibited
including the principal species used by the Virginia and New England Indians,
and wild grapes from which the Concord, Catawba, Niagara, and other well-
known varieties of cultivated grapes have been developed in modern times.
William R. Maxon, Recording Secretary.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCI ETY
337 meeting
The 337th regular meeting was held on February 3, 1921 in Room 43 of
the new building of the National Museum, with President Walton in the
chair and 32 members and 6 visitors present. The following were elected
to membership in the society; E. H. Blackmore of Victoria, B. C. ; R. J.
TiLYARD of New Zealand; B. A. Porter of the Bureau of Entomology;
and Melville H. Hatch of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
164 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 6
Program
R. C. Shannon : Notes on the classification of the Syrphidae.
This classification is based on external characters of the adults. Ten
subfamilies are recognized and practically all the characters used to define
them are here used for the first time. The most notable feature in the paper
is the definite separation of the Syrphinae, containing the aphidophagus
forms, from the other subfamilies.
Dr. J. M. Aldrich expressed himself as much gratified with Mr. Shan-
non's work on the Syrphidae. He stated that previous classifications of the
family have been based on what might be called traditional characters which
give an unnatural grouping of the genera.
L. O. Howard : Extracts from Ferton's review of Fabre's work.
Doctor Howard stated that he had recently carefully translated two arti-
cles from the French relating to J. H. Fabre. The first, which was an en-
thusiastic eulogy, was published by BouviER in the Revue generale des Sci-
ences pure et appliquees, 26^ Annee, 22: 634-639. Paris: 30 Nov., 1915; and the
second was a critical estimate of the character and work of Fabre by Ch.
Ferton published in Revue Scientifique, 16-23, September. 1916 — leading
article. Doctor Howard read abstracts from the latter article in order to
show the members of the society the true estimate of Fabre that is held among
the best scientific men of France, especially those best fitted by their work to ap-
preciate at their true worth the reported observations of the Hermit Naturalist.
The translations will be bound and placed in the library of the Bureau of
Entomology at the end of the series of the published works of FabrE.
Mr. S. A. RohwER expressed the opinion that from the point of actual ob-
servations Fabre's work does not equal that of the Peckhams or the Raus.
He questioned if the good that Fabre did as a popularizer of entomology
would outweigh the harm that he did to the science by his bitter antagonism
to the evolutionary theory. The erroneous determinations of species made
by Fabre have made his work much less valuable than it would have
been had he secured correct determinations from competent authorities. Mr.
Rohwer stated that the same criticism applies to some extent to some
American works on the habits of wasps, notably that of Hartman in Texas.
Mr. Snodgrass was inclined to overlook the inaccuracies of Fabre's work
stating that in American entomological literature there are many errors as
bad as those of Fabre's. He cited as an example the statement that the
tussock moth removed the hairs from its back by means of its mandibles and
weaves them into its cocoon. He had observed the method by which these
hairs are removed and found it to be accomplished by a revolving motion of the
larva in its cocoon, by which the hairs are rubbed off and becoming tangled
in the silk of cocoon form a part of the cocoon.
E. D. Ball: Food plants and adaptations of leaf hoppers.
Treehoppers exhibit many lines of adaptation to their surroundings. They
have been chiefly famous in the past for their remarkable and bizarre shapes.
These curious and intricate modifications are all the result of an extraordinary
enlargement of the chitonous covering of the pronotum. These horns,
spines, balls, warts, or foliaceous prolongations may be clipped off as one
trims the finger nails without in any way injuring the insect whose body is of
normal shape and proportion down at the base of this hood. One South
American species at least appears to be able to shed without difficulty a folia-
ceous bulb that covers its back. This is probably a protection against insec-
TVIAR. 19, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 165
tivorous birds. Most of the other strange developments seem to be protected
by simulating some part of the plant on which they live or else so arranged as to
blend into the lights and shadows of their favorite situation as to render them
inconspicuous. For example, a species that lives on the oak has a white
stripe down the middle of the back which is very striking when seen in a
collection. This insect, however, in life rests on the underside of a twig in
the shadows and this white stripe then functions like the light under part of
the deer or of many birds and helps it to blend with its surroundings.
The adaptation of these insects to their surroundings in color and mark-
ings is if anything even more striking than their grotesque shapes. A study
-of the North American species of Telamonini shows that nearly every one
of them has a single food plant to which it is almost perfectly adapted in color
and form, these adaptations being combined to produce invisibility in the
favorite situation of the individual treehopper. The one occurring on wild
plum, for example, has the color of the plum bark and a long projection like
a plum thorn. The one on sycamore has the powdery yellow appearance of
the fresh bark of that tree. The one on hackberry rests in crevices in the
bark and mimics the rough outline of the black and gray flecking of the
rough bark.
Collecting these insects is as fascinating as trout fishing. It is only the
trained eye that can detect them and when detected it is only by the use of
the greatest skill that they can be captured, as once disturbed they snap into
the air with eye-defying speed and are lost in the foliage. If one uses a long
glass tube and brings it down from directly above the insect without allowing
the slightest lateral movement they may be readily captured. They are
lovers of the open and of warm and sunshiny places and will be found on
isolated trees or small clumps or on the margins of woods but not inside the
wooded area or in the deep shade. Fortunately for the collector most of
them occur on the low spreading branches of the large trees.
Notes and exhibition of specimens
Mr. B. A. Porter reported the rearing at Wallingford, Connecticut, of
Anaphoidea conotracheli Girault, a common parasite of the plum curculio, from
the eggs of the apple maggot. As high as 25 and 30 per cent of the apple
maggot eggs collected in the field have been found to be parasitized by this
insect. The egg turns dark just before the emergence of the parasite, which
instead of using the oviposition puncture made in the fruit by the fly makes
a hole of its own through the skin of the apple. The life cycle of the parasite
was not definitely determined but data available show it to be less than three
weeks. In the plum curculio it is 10-11 daj^s. The oviposition season of
the apple maggot following that of the plum curculio gives a favorable host
rotation from June to September. The only other recorded host of this para-
site is the grape curculio.
Dr. Howard was much interested in the observation and expressed the
opinion that any delicate egg deposited in the same position as those of the
curculio and the maggot would serve as host for the Anaphoidea.
Mr. Gahan mentioned Trichogramma mimita Riley as another example of
a parasite attacking eggs of insects of different orders.
Dr. J. M. Aldrich, editor of the Thomas Say Foundation, stated that the
Foundation would shortly be able to publish another memoir and asked for
the opportunity to examine any manuscripts that might be available.
R. A. CusHMAN, Recording Secretary.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 April 4, 1922 No. 7
PHYSICS. — Note on a general method for determining properties of
matter.^ Mayo D. Hersey, Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology.
Physical properties of substances, for example, thermal and elec-
trical conductivity, density, viscosity, and surface tension, are usually
determined by one or the other of the two following methods. (1)
Absolute measurement, involving comparatively expensive apparatus
and detailed mathematical analysis. (2) Relative measurement
in terms of the properties of a standard sample. This method is
comparatively simple and economical, but has almost always been
restricted in the past to those few phenomena where the desired prop-
erty is directly proportional to the observed action, or to some definite
function of the observed action which can be written down in advance
of the experiment. It is the object of the present paper to indicate
a third category of experiments which should be available for deter-
mining properties of matter, much less restricted in character than
those mentioned above; and to formulate a general method for in-
terpreting the obser\'ations.
This third group of phenomena are characterized by the fact that
the observed action will not be directly proportional to the property
in question, nor even uniquely determined by it, and it is quite imma-
terial if the details of the phenomenon are too irregular to be analyzed
mathematically. The proposed method for interpreting such ob-
serv^ations consists merely in applying the principle of dynamical
similarity (or physical similarity) backwards. Instead of employing
this principle to predict the course of a phenomenon, when the proper-
ties of matter involved are altered in a known manner, it is now pro-
posed to turn it around, and deduce the relative magnitudes of the
properties of matter involved in two successive experiments, by ob-
serving the phenomena in both cases.
This possibility must immediately suggest itself to anyone familiar
with the principle of similarity or the theory of dimensions, and it
' Received January 24, 1922.
167
168 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
was in fact first brought to the writer's attention through a specific
instance discussed by Dr. E. Buckingham'- at the Philosophical Society
of Washington in 1916 in connection with the subject of efflux vis-
cosimeters.
When attempting to reverse the principle of dynamical similarity,
it is in general impossible to predetermine the necessary conditions
because the resulting forces or motions cannot be experimentally
controlled or foreseen. It is an essential feature of the proposed dem-
onstration to show that this can be done by securing fictitious similarity
by graphical interpolation among two or more experimental trials
which approximate, but do not exactly realize, the conditions for
similarity. Before treating the problem symbolically, this feature
will be illustrated by concrete examples.
Viscosity measurement. — The familiar equation for fluid resistance
due to Lord Rayleigh may be written
i?=p/)%= ^(^^) ' (1)
in which R denotes the resistant force, D some linear dimension of
the body, and v its relative speed through the medium of density p
and viscosity m- The function / is the same for all geometrically
similar bodies. This equation can be solved for the unknown vis-
cosity /x and written
n = DvpJ^~] (2)
\pDhy
or, when D and p are constant,
/7?\
(3)
Now, if the functions \p or (i> were known, either of these equations
could be used as it stands for the determination of absolute viscosity
from observations on the resistance and speed. But for the purpose
of relative determinations, the form of the function need not be known,
as will presently appear. For suppose that the apparatus, when sup-
plied with a standard sample of viscosity ^o, gives an observed re-
sistance Ro at the speed Vo, while the sample under test gives some
different resistance i? at a speed v; then if
. R Ro
(4)
2 This Journal 6: 154-155. 1916.
APR. 4, 1922 HERSEY : PROPERTIES OF MATTER 1G9
the unknown function 0 will be numerically the same in the two
experiments, so that Equation 3 gives
- = - (5)
Mo "-"o
If the condition for dynamical similarity expressed by Equation 4
above could be realized at the first trial, then a single experiment on
the test sample would be sufficient. In practice two or more experi-
ments should be made and the observed values of R plotted as ordinate
against v- as abscissa. Draw a straight line from the origin through
the point whose coordinates are Ro and Vo -. Suppose this line inter-
sects the empirical curv^e for the test sample in some point P. Then
the condition for dynamical similarity (Eq. 4) is exactly realized at
the point P, although this is a fictitious point and not a real observa-
tion. Therefore, the abscissa i', of the point P satisfies Equation 5
and is to be substituted for v in that equation when using it as a work-
ing formula.
If the size of the body which is towed through a fluid, or the density
of the fluid, are not constant. Equation 2 can be employed instead of
Equation 3, and for this purpose Equation 2 may be rewritten
ti = x \p{y) (6)
in which x denotes Dvp while y stands for the dimensionless variable
R/p D-v~. Using subscript zero hereafter to refer to the standard
substance, Equation G gives for the standard viscosity
Mo =Xo\p(yo) (7)
Now plot experimental values of .1' j'o as ordinate, against x/Xo as
abscissa, and call rci/r^o the abscissa of the point where the empirical
curve crosses the horizontal straight line j/j'o = 1. Dividing (6) by
(7) the final formula becomes
^ = 2^ (8)
Mo Xo
of which (5) above may be considered a special case.
Thermal conductivity. — Let it be required to determine relative
thermal conductivity X/Xo by successive observations of the tempera-
ture rise A on the sample under test and on a standard sample which
is geometrically similar to it. When the steady state has been reached,
the heat input H will be just equal to the heat carried off from the
exterior of the sample by the convective action of some cooling agent
such as a vigorously stirred water bath. If the specific heat of this
170 JOURNAL OP THS WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIKNCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
medium is denoted by 5 and its rate of flow in mass units per unit of
time by M, then the temperature elevation will be given by an equa-
tion of the type
A = F{\,H,D,M,S) (9)
in which D denotes some linear dimension of the sample. (This
equation is only approximately complete; while serving well enough
as it stands for the purpose of illustration, it can in practice be made
more exact by introducing the additional variables p, fx and X' to
denote, respectively, the density, viscosity, and thermal conductivity
of the cooling agent, which will have some influence on the rate of
heat transfer, though not so much as the quantities M and 5.) Equa-
tion 9 can be further developed by dimensional theory, and then solved
for the conductivity X, whereupon it goes over into the form
In the second part of this equation x has been written for H/D A and
y for MS A/H. Plot observed values of y/yo as ordinate against x/xo
as abscissa, and denote by Xi/xo the abscissa of the point where simi-
larity occurs ; that is, the point where the empirical curve crosses
the line y/yo = l. Referring therefore to Equation 10, the relative
conductivity will evidently be given by the formula
X .^1 , ,
- =- (11)
Ao Xq
In the more exact solution suggested above, the consideration of
p will introduce an additional argument p^-HD^M^ into Equation
10, while the recognition of ^ will add an argument of the form ixD/M,
and so on if additional correction terms are included. In order to
apply the routine reasoning above, which was based on Equation
10, these new arguments must now be held constant, which may or
may not be experimentally practicable, although possible in principle
if suitable facihties are provided. For example, to keep the argument
p'^HD'^/M^ constant, it is sufficient to increase the mass flow in pro-
portion to the cube root of the heat input, whenever the latter is
changed.
General formulation. — The procedure illustrated above may be
outlined in more general terms as follows:
1. Develop the appropriate dimensionless equation for some chosen
APR. 4, 1922 HERSEY ; PROPERTIES OF MATTER 171
phenomenon which exhibits the desired property of matter Q. This
can be done by the Il-theorem method^ and requires first of all a
complete list of the physical quantities which would influence the
phenomenon if they were to vary. Solve this equation for Q and let
the result be written
Q^X-^{Y,Z,..) (12)
in which Q/X, Y , Z, .... are dimensionless variables, ^ being an
unknown function.
2. The experimental facilities must now be so arranged that all
dimensionless variables other than QIX and F, for example Z (if
any such appear), shall be kept constant. Under these conditions
(12) reduces to
Q=AXr). (13)
3. If any of the individual physical quantities entering the di-
mensional factor X or the dimensionless argument Y are known to
be constant during the experiment, they can be left out, so that X
and Y degenerate respectively into the dimensional factors % and y,
and (13) takes on the more simple form
Q=^</>(>0. (14)
Equation 14 could have been deduced at the start in place of (12) by
utilizing Buckingham's recent method of suppressed dimensions.^
4. Take observations of the phenomenon in question when the
apparatus is supplied with a standard sample, for which Q (whether
numerically known or not) may be written Qo . Denote the values
of X and y which prevail during this experiment by Xo and jo, respec-
tively.
5. Proceed next to observe the same phenomenon with the new
sample, for which Q is constant but unknown. It will be sufficient
to confine the experimental variation of x to that vicinity for which
the resulting value of y is found by trial to be of the same order of
magnitude as To .
6. Plot the observed data on coordinate paper with y lyo as ordinate
against xjxo as abscissa. Let the abscissa of point P where the experi-
mental curve crosses the line y lyo = 1 , be denoted by X\lxo . This
point represents a fictitious case of dynamical (or physical) similarity,
3 E. Buckingham, This Journal 4: 347-353. 1914. Phys. Rev. 4: 345-376. 1914.
Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng. 37: 263-296. 1915.
* E. Buckingham. Notes on the method of dimensions. Phil. Mag. 42: 696-719, § 11.
1921.
172 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
obtained by interpolation^ between adjacent points at which the
conditions for similarity were not exactly fulfilled. All of the infer-
ences appropriate to physically similar systems are immediately
applicable to the coordinates of the point P.
7. In particular, when v/3'o = l, Equation 14 leads at once to the
final working formula
for determining the relative value of any property of matter Q. This
formula is theoretically exact under the conditions stated, regardless
of the complexity of the fluid motions, heat transfer, or electrical
distributions involved in any given experiment.
GEOLOGY. — The major tectonic features of the Dutch East Indies}
H. A. BrouwER, Delft, Holland.
CONTENTS
Introduction.
The older trend lines studied in plan.
The older overthrusts studied in profile.
Regions with simpler structure.
The main trend lines of the younger stage of mountain-building.
Tertiary strikes cut obliquely by the present geanticlinal axis.
The fractures during the youngest stage of mountain-building.
Literature and maps.
INTRODUCTION
Although the geology of parts of the East Indian Archipelago
was studied in detail during the past century by several geologists,
a great many of the islands, particularly those in the eastern part
of the Archipelago remained almost unknown geologically. But within
the last twenty years so much new information has been obtained by
expeditions to the more eastern islands that it is now possible to sum-
marize the tectonic features of the entire region — one of unusual inter-
est to geologists and geophysicists. Here two great lines of crustal
weakness, the Alpine and the circum- Pacific orogenic systems, meet or
are interlaced. Although it is convenient to speak of two stages
of deformation in the East Indies, it is our opinion that the latest
5 Instead of interpolating graphically, cases might arise where it would be of advantage
to employ the relation connecting derivatives; cf. This Journal, 6: 620-629. 1916; or
Bur. Stds. Sci. Paper 331. 1920.
^ Address delivered before Geological Society of Washington. Feb. 2, 1922.
APR. 4, 1922 brouwer: tectonic features dutch east indies 173
crustal movements in the East Indian region are only a younger stage
and a direct continuation of the Tertiary crustal movements. The
Tertiary folds and overthrusts which were formed at relatively great
depth are now visible at the surface, but the fissured and faulted
crust that once lay above them has been removed by erosion. On the
other hand, the tectonic features due to late deformation near the
earth's surface during the younger stage of mountain-building have re-
mained visible and are manifested in the fissured and faulted crust,
while the accompanying folds and overthrusts remain invisible at
greater depths. Thus, we believe that the displacements, evidence of
which is now seen at the surface, are in part the result of the continua-
tion of movement at greater depths and that the visible traces of the
different stages of crustal movement since Tertiary time are mutually
complementary. A comparison of these stages affords a better under-
standing of the mountain-building process.
The evolution of the region during Paleozoic and Mesozoic time is
not well known, but the widespread occurrence of Mesozoic deposits,
which resemble in nearly every lithologic respect the recent deep-sea
oozes, proves that already in Mesozoic time deep-sea basins were
present in the region. Thus certain red clay shales with radiolaria and
radiolarian hornstones are the lithologic equivalents of the Recent
red clay and radiolarian ooze formed in deep seas of the present day.
The hornstones in places contain nodules of manganese, some of which
have a concentric structure, and teeth of sharks have been discovered
in places. These deposits prove that very important movements of the
earth's crust must have taken place since Mesozoic time; movements
sufficiently great to bring deposits formed at depths of 5,000 meters or
more to heights of more than 1,000 meters above the surface of the sea.
It is permissible to conclude that the process of mountain-building
in the East Indian Archipelago bears much resemblance to that of
other Alpine mountain ranges, such as the Himalayas and the Alps.
In the Mediterranean region of Europe it has been possible to recon-
struct theoretically different Mesozoic geanticlines and geosynclines,
with the aid of stratigraphic data, when it was once realized that great
over-thrust sheets had been pushed forward long distances from their
original sites. The study of the Recent crustal movements in the
rows of islands of eastern Asia and Oceania suggests what may have
been the embryonic stage of Alpine mountain ranges when (in earlier
periods) a somewhat similar distribution of land and water prevailed.^
2 E. Argand. Sur I'arc des Alpes occidentales . Eclog. Geol. Helv. 14:145. 1916.
174 JOURNAI. OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
In the Western Alps we find that the formation of the geosyncHnes
and geanticlines was accentuated in the Lower Jura ; in Middle Jurassic
time these folds disappear below sea level ; and in the Upper Jura there
followed a further moderate submergence. In Cretaceous time, strong
horizontal movements began and reached their maximum in the Ter-
tiary period. As the overthrust sheets moved at greater depth, the
sea-basins became narrower and the masses of the geanticlines were
pushed forward in a nearly horizontal direction.
Oscillations, such as these in the Alps during the Mesozoic period
are also known to characterize the younger movements in the East
Indian Archipelago, and it is possible that the region adjoining the
present Australian continent will in the future reach the same stage
as that reached long ago in the Alps. Horizontal movements of the
curving rows of islands are proved by several features now observable
on those islands and as these movements proceed the sea-basins will
be narrowed and eventually the masses of the present geanticlines may
be pushed over the Sahul shelf of the Australian continent. Viewed
thus the Archipelago may be conceived as representing an embryonic
stage of an Alpine mountain range. In zoology many of the results
obtained through a study of comparative anatomy were later confirmed
by the results derived from studies of embryology. The development
of geology, however, naturally followed lines other than those of zoology
because the embryonic mountain ranges lay outside the regions studied
by early geologists, but it was possible deductively to reach conclusions
regarding the embryonic conditions of a mountain range by studying
the anatomy of a mountain range and by applying the ontological
method, a method which much more than the comparative one, has
controlled geological work.
It is probable that the embryonic stages of different mountain
ranges bear much resemblance to each other, as do the early stages
of animal ontogeny. Such a conception leads to the recognition of un-
expected relationships between types, which because of mature age
show important differences. The question arises, whether persistent
embryonic types occur among the mountain ranges. In the Timor
row of islands deep sea-basins occurred in Triassic time, while they
appear in the embryonic Alps in the Upper Jura. It is possible that
in the southeastern part of the Malay Archipelago a more or less
embryonic stage has persisted since Mesozoic times, while the Alps
reached the mature stage in Tertiary time. In my opinion the solution
of many tectonic problems will be found by a careful study of compara-
APR. 4, 1922 brouwer: tectonic features dutch east indies 175
tive tectonics, embryotectonics, and comparative embryotectonics, as
in zoology comparative anatomy and ontogeny are essential parts of
morphology.
The tectonic features of the East Indian Archipelago as they now
exist are the result of orogenic forces which have been acting during
long periods of time and which have caused movements in a horizontal
direction at many places. Where the lands were high above the
strand-lines of the surrounding seas, the ranges were cut down and the
deeper parts were uncovered by erosion; where at the same time the
crust was moving below sea-level no denudation took place and no un-
conformities or disconformities in the succession of strata are found.
In the parts of the earth's crust, which are now visible on the different
islands the erosion intervals are not found at the same place in the
geological time-table. In Sumatra a striking unconformity is found
between the late Mesozoic and the early Tertiary, in Timor between
the middle Tertiary and the Plio- Pleistocene. In order to give a
detailed account of the tectonic features it would be necessary to de-
scribe the many islands separately but for the major tectonic features
it is sufficient to describe the visible traces of two stages of crustal
movements, the late Mesozoic and Tertiary stage and the youngest
stage, which still continues. The youngest stage is definitely known
to he limited to certain parts of the present Archipelago, while the dis-
tribution in time and place of the older stage is not exactly known.
THE OLDER TREND LINES STUDIED IN PLAN
Digitate forms, such as those represented by the islands Celebes and
Halmaheira have been considered as produced by a broad side- and end-
on conflict of Tertiary folded ranges. See Fig. 1 . Yet it can be shown
that the present morphology is the result of the youngest stage of
crustal movements, since the known strike of the Tertiary folds is in
places very different from the direction of the present geanticlines.
In the eastern peninsula of Celebes a northwest-southeast or north
northwest-south-southeast strike is found in strongly folded marls and
limestones with associated layers and nodules of hornstone. In the
eastern part of this peninsula the central range consists of nearly
horizontal limestones of Eocene and Oligocene age. On the northern
and southern slopes more or less pronounced dips to the northwest have
been found. In the central part of the island the main Tertiary strike
seems to be northwest-southeast. The tectonic features of the south-
eastern peninsula of Celebes are but little known, its northern part
176 JOURN/>L OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
APR. 4, 1922 BROUWER: tectonic features dutch east liNDlES 177
consists principally of basic eruptive rocks and in the southern part
crystalline schists, whose main strike is insufficiently known, are of
widespread occurrence. In the narrow portion of the island, which
connects the northern peninsula with the central part, some authors
have presumed that there exists a main strike from south to north,
which would bend to an east-westerly direction in the northern penin-
sula. But the region consists principally of crystalline schists and
eruptive rocks and no folded Tertiary rocks are known, while a north-
west-southeast strike seems to prevail. It is possible that the pro-
longation of the parallel ranges in the adjacent projecting part of
Borneo crosses this part of Celebes obliquely and that the supposed
bending of the Tertiary strike does not exist. Thus viewed, the
Tertiary mountain-plan of the island may be thought of as comprising
two strongly diverging trend lines of which the northern recurves to the
north in the direction of one of the trend lines of the Philippine islands.
To repeat, particularly in that part of the Archipelago which is occupied
bv the Island of Celebes there are important differences between the
Tertiary strike and the direction of the present geanticlinal axes.
The geologic plan of Borneo in many respects resembles that of
Celebes in that it is not well explained by a "side and end-on" conflict
of folded ranges, but on the contrary suggests the existence of a system
of branching trend lines similar to that of the present Philippine islands.
From the northeastern part, where the highest elevations of the island
occur and where the folded ranges with a main trend north-northeast
to south-southwest are closely crowded together, the main strikes
diverge to the southwest. The eastern trend lines bend to the south-
west in the direction of Celebes, those more to the west first have a
direction from north to south, but bend to the southwest, while the
central and western ranges recurve to the northwest, almost at right
angles to their general course in the northeastern part of the island.
The plan of vSumatra is similar to that of Borneo, although the
branching of the trend lines is not so distinctly pronounced. The high-
est altitudes of the older rocks occur in the northwestern part of the
island and the main trend lines diverge to the southeast.
The reconstruction of the main older trend lines in the eastern part
of the Archipelago cannot be made complete, because that part of
the region is mostly covered by the sea and older folds in many places
are cut off by the present coast lines. There are, however, some
indications that virgations also occur here. In the islands of the Kei
178 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
group a NNE-SSW strike is found on Great Kei, while farther west
a NNW-SSE strike in the direction of Ceram has been observed. The
strike on Great Kei is in the direction of western New Guinea, where
the strike is parallel to the coast line (NNW and NW).
As far as known the main strike in different parts of Halmaheira
Island does not greatly differ from the longer axes of the present penin-
sulas. But as the island has been crossed at only a few places and as
eruptive rocks are of widespread occurrence, positive opinions on the
tectonic relations are not warranted.
THE OLDER OVERTHRUSTS STUDIED IN PROFILE
The great deformation that took place during late Mesozoic and
Tertiary time, and now so well exhibited on many of the islands was
caused by strong pressure exerted from several different directions and
the structures that were developed show the imbrication and the dif-
ferent degrees of overthrusting characteristic of Alpine mountain ranges.
This structural type is probably of widespread occurrence, since it has
already been proved or rendered highly probable that it is present on
Sumatra and on many islands of the Timor-Ceram range. It has been
suggested that the highest and the lower eastern parts of the Barissan
mountains in Djambi (Sumatra) are parts of an overthrust sheet,
between which the autochthonous phyllitic slates have been uncovered
by erosion. An erosion relict has been found in the Bukit Raja.
In the Highlands of Padang the walls of Carboniferous or Permian
limestone in places continue uninterruptedly without any trans-
gression-conglomerates and without veins of granite or contact phe-
nomena over the contact between granites and surrounding sediments,
whereas part of the granites is post-Carboniferous in age. These
limestones give to the landscape a peculiar character similar to that
of the "Klippen" of the Alps and the Carpathian mountains and the
"fatus"=^ of Timor.
On Timor the majority of the isolated rock peaks consist of coral reefs
of Upper Triassic age, but Permian crinoidal and fusulina lime stones
are common. Groups of deposits of the same age, but of different
paleontological, and petrographical character, occur one on top of
the other and "fatus" of older rocks are found resting on younger
oceanic deposits, as is clearly visible along the deep ravines cut in the
recently elevated island. The structure is as a rule chaotic and is
similar to that of the higher overthrust sheets of eastern Switzerland,
^ Isolated rocks or groups of rocks in Timor are called "fatu" by the natives.
APR. 4, 1922 BROUWER : TECTONIC FEATURES DUTCH EAST INDIES 179
which were moved in the near-surface zone where the rocks yielded to
pressure not by flow but mostly by fracture. The comparative method
of study leads to the supposition that on Timor the deeper complicated,
but less chaotic overthrust structures, such as are found in the Western
Alps, have not here been uncovered by erosion, and the absence of
rocks older than those of Permian age points to the same conclusion.
Simpler structures are found only in the southern coast-range of the
island, where an imbricated structure with a fairly uniform dip to the
north-northwest prevails. On Babber, an island to the east of Timor,
crinoidal Hmestone has been found as isolated "fatus," which rest on
folded Jurassic sediments. In the eastern part of Ceram Triassic
sediments are thrust over limestones and marls, which are partly of late
Mesozoic age and which show a rather regular dip to the southwest.
In the central and western part of the island several remarkable suc-
cessions of crystalline schists, phyllitic slates, and Mesozoic rocks point
to the existence of important overthrusts between these three forma-
tions. In the western part of the island the horizontal movement of
the overthrust seems to be less than that on the southern islands of the
Timor-Ceram row, because groups of deposits of the same age, but of
different paleontological and petrographical character, are not found
one on top of the other and in close proximity in the same degrees as on
Timor.
The expeditions from the south coast to the Snow Mountains of
the central range of New Guinea found strata with a fairly uniform dip
to the north over long distances and it does not seem improbable, that
recumbent folds, imbricated structures, or overthrusts, with a move-
ment in the direction of the Australian continent may occur in these
mountains. This chain bears towards the lowland to the south and to
Australia beyond a relation somewhat similar to that borne by the
Himalayas towards India.
REGIONS WITH SIMPLER STRUCTURES
In Sumatra the overthrusts are older than Tertiary, in Timor
they were formed in Miocene time. The Tertiary rocks of Sumatra up
to the Pliocene generally have been folded, often in more or less regular
broad anticlines and synclines, such as those of the oil-bearing strata
in the eastern part of the island. Similar relations prevail in other
regions where in Neogene time there were" geosynclinal belts per-
sistently and fairly well filled with an accumulation of sediments, as in
parts of Java and Borneo and also on some islands in the eastern part of
ISO JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
the Archipelago. In some parts of the Archipelago the Mesozoic and
Tertiary rocks both show simpler structures. In western New Guinea to
the south of the Gulf of the Mac Cluer normally folded Tertiary rocks
occur, and farther west, in the Misol-Obi-Sula row of islands in places
the Jurassic strata are but slightly folded or are nearly horizontal.
On Borneo crustal deformation of the late Mesozoic stage is clearly
visible, but at many places the dip of the Cretaceous strata is not very
pronounced. The tectonic structure may be more complicated in the
northeastern part of the island, where the folded ranges are closely
crowded together. Sumba, is usually considered as the western
prolongation of the Timor row of islands, but the Tertiary is not dis-
tinctly folded.
On Celebes the ages of the dififerent strata are not yet exactly
known. It has been supposed that even Tertiary sediments occur
amongst the metamorphic sediments, which are of widespread occur-
rence on the island, but as yet there is no proof of this supposition.
In the central part of the island large anticlines and synclines with an
approximately northwest-southeast strike were formed in post Eocene
time. In the eastern peninsula nearly horizontal Eocene limestones
occur, but at other places, as in the western part of the eastern
peninsula, rocks of the same age are intensely folded. Although sim-
pler structures with large anticlines and synclines certainly prevail in a
large part of the island, we cannot gain an adequate picture of the late
Mesozoic and Tertiary tectonic features of the whole island until the
stratigraphy is more completely known.
THE MAIN TREND LINES OF THE YOUNGEST STAGE OF MOUNTAIN-BUILDING
The main trend lines of the latest stage of mountain-making are
accurately known, because uplifts of the land relatively to the sea
level are clearly demonstrated by the presence of elevated fringing reefs
and because the positions of the deep-sea basins are given on the deep-
sea chart of the "Siboga" expedition. The deep-sea basins have
proved to be elongated more or less precisely parallel to the adjoining
rows of islands and the main trend lines of the youngest stage of moun-
tain-building nearly coincide with the longer axes of the islands. The
deep sea basins and the strongly elevated islands are confined to the
eastern part of the Archipelago, whereas within the western area there
prevails a slight and uniform depth of the sea with smooth outlines of a
land that rises with a gentle slope from the coast. Only the southern
part of the Archipelago which is bounded by the Indian Ocean, shows
APR. 4, 1922 brouwBr: tectonic features dutch east indies 181
proof of recent upheaval of the land, while the deep-sea chart shows a
complicated topography to the south of Java and Sumatra. That
these movements still continue is proved by the distribution of earth-
quakes in the Archipelago. In the region including eastern Sumatra,
the southern China Sea, northern Java, and Borneo, heavy tectonic
earthquakes are practically absent. The shocks felt in this area have
their origin in the mobile areas, which are as a rule submarine, as shown
by the seismic epicenters.
The large bendings in the mountain chains of recent age in the
southern and eastern parts of the Archipelago are clearly visible on the
deep sea chart of the region. But if considered in detail it is obvious
that important bendings of smaller amount are numerous. They are not
always clearly visible in the present topography, because many of the
bending-points, which are the loci of considerable transverse fractures,
are covered by the sea. Examples of this kind are the narrow Manipa
Strait between Ceram and Buru, nearly 5,000 M. deep, the strait be-
tween Timor and Rotti, the strait between Timor and the Sermata
islands, and Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. In the row of
islands from Nias to Enggano, to the west of Sumatra, several examples
of this kind also occur.
tertiary strikes are cut obliquely by the present geanticeinal
AXES
The establishment of the fact that Tertiary strikes are cut obliquely
by the present geanticlinal axes is of great importance for a precise
understanding of the mountain-building process. Several exam-ples
are known in the Dutch East Indies. On the south coast of Timor
the strike of the Jurassic and Cretaceous strata of the Amanuban
mountain chain differs about 12° from the general trend of the coast
line. The high mountain range of central Ceram, in which the Meso-
zoic and Tertiary strata strike about NW-SE, is cut off abruptly at the
coast with a general E-W trend. The abnormal strike in the eastern
peninsula of Celebes and in the narrow portion which connects the
central part of the island with the northeastern peninsula have been
already mentioned. Another noteworthy example is on the island
Babber to the east of Timor, where the strike is NNE-SSW, nearly
perpendicular to the main trend of the present row of islands.
Similar facts are well known from Japan. Von Richthofen believed
the formation of the arcs to be due to a rupture (Zerrung) caused
by the subsidence of the oceanic side, and denied the existence
182 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
of the zonal structure that characterizes folded mountains of the Alpine
type. Japanese geologists have already pointed out that many of the
dislocations are only recurrent movements on the arcs of folding, which
are of essentially the same type as the Himalayas and the Alps in their
fundamental structure.
The abnormal strike can be explained in a simple manner by the
action of compressional stress, if we suppose that the rows of uplifted
and fragmented island blocks indicate the places where at greater
depths folding continues and that there is motion in a vertical direction
as well as considerable motion in a horizontal direction. The vertical
movement will cause gradual erosion and the exposed surface of the
geanticline will in time consist of rocks which were in the zone of flow
during an earlier stage of mountain-building. The rate and direction
of the movement of the deeper-lying rocks as they approach the
earth's surface may differ more and more from the rate and direction of
the motion of the rocks that lie at still greater depths on the same
vertical line. The forces that cause movement near the surface will
generally differ in intensity and direction from the forces that cause
movement at greater depths. Furthermore, the rate of transmission of
the forces will decrease from the surface to the zones of greater plas-
ticity at greater depth. If during the elevation the rate of horizontal
movement is different for neighboring parts of the geanticline, the
differences between the directions of the geanticlinal axes and of the
older strike may be considerable, as in the central part of Ceram. The
strong bending of the geanticlinal axis between Ceram and Buru points
to important differences in the rate of horizontal movement for neigh-
boring parts of the geanticlines. A bending-point existed in this
region already in Tertiary time and near strong bendings, as near
Babber Island, the Tertiary strike may locally even be at right angles
to the present geanticlinal axis. It is particularly in such places that
the movement at or near the surface may differ considerably in rate and
direction from the movement of greater depths.
THE FRACTURES DURING THE YOUNGEST STAGE OF MOUNTAIN-BUILDING
The tension hypothesis of von Richthofen has been applied by
some authors to the East Indian Archipelago, but the numerous
fractures, which are known to exist, are in our opinion the surface
expression of vertical and horizontal movements which are the result
of compressional stress. Important fractures occur near the surface
at those places where there are important differences in rate of move-
APR. 4, 1922 brouwer: tectonic features dutch east indies 18-3
ment. If the forces which cause the movement are deep-seated and if
the crust near the surface does not respond to the direct influence of the
compressional stress, displacements near the surface will result from
the more plastic deformation at greater depth. While important
horizontal movements are taking place in the zone of plastic deforma-
tion, the superficial parts may move with much less velocity.
If the superficial parts are bent, whether in a vertical or horizontal
plane, there is a tendency to produce gaping fissures upon the convex
side of the bend, while there is compression upon the concave side.
Some of the fissures in the Archipelago may be of this origin, and many
have been explained in this way, such as the basins of central Celebes,
which are arranged in straight lines, more or less parallel to the geanti-
clinal axes. If studied in plan, the same principles are applicable
and perhaps some of the straits between the islands of an arc have been
formed in this way. Considerable transverse fractures, however,
which occur at many places near the bending-points of the geanticlinal
axis, can be explained by difference in velocity of horizontal movement
for neighboring parts of the fold along the axis. In the same way
important longitudinal fissures can be explained by the difference in
velocity of neighboring parts of the geanticline considered in a vertical
plane at right angles to the geanticlinal axis. The morphological
aspect of the surface will be controlled chiefly by the more or less
horizontal movements on transverse fault planes, the gaping transverse
fissures on these planes the more or less vertical movement on longi-
tudinal faults, and the gaping longitudinal fissures on these faults.
The movements along more or less horizontal fault-planes will not be of
much importance for the major morphological structure and will
receive no further consideration.
Typical examples of transverse fractures near the bending-points
of a geanticlinal axis where it has moved forward horizontally are
Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, the strait between Timor and
Rotti, and the narrow strait between the main island of Rotti and the
peninsula of Landu. To the east of Timor the small Island of Kisser
which is surrounded by deep seas and is in the neighborhood of a bend-
ing point between east Timor and the Sermata Islands occupies a
northern, non-harmonic position. Farther to the east the Babber
group, which consists of small islands with high reefs, is separated by a
considerable gap from the islands of the Tenimber group. The
narrow strait between Muna and Buton and the straits between other
184 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
islands of the same group are near the bending-point of the geanticlinal
axis of the Tukang Besi Islands and southeastern Celebes. The
narrow Manipa Strait, nearly 5,000 meters deep between Ceram and
Buru is another example of an important gap where there is strong
bending of the geanticlinal axis in a horizontal plane, while the strait
between Halmaheira and Morotai and the important gap between
Halmaheira and the islands to the southwest of the Pelew group may
in part be the result of fractures near a bending-point, which possibly
exist between Halmaheira and those islands. Of course in large bend-
ings of the geanticlinal axis the submarine parts of the axis may be
due to a pitch of the axis, but for relatively short bendings this ex-
planation of submarine portions alone is not applicable. The fracture-
movement may be more or less parallel to a fault-plane or the move-
ment may have an important component normal to the fracture-plane
The bending-points of the surface of the geanticline, considered in a
vertical cross section of the geanticline at right angles to the geanti-
clinal axis, are between the deep sea-basins and the elevated islands,
where longitudinal faults may cut away the land at the coast as has
been mentioned for many islands of the Archipelago. If two more or
less parallel rows of islands are developing as two secondary geanticlines
with an intermediate secondary geosyncline, longitudinal faults may
exist on both sides of the secondary geosyncline and on the outer sides of
the secondary geanticlines. The duration, speed, and place of the
fracture-movements will in large measure depend upon the evolution of
the mountain-building. If the plane of movement is not constant and
the traces of older fracture-movements are elevated "above the sea, they
will usually disappear rapidly through erosion on the outer side of the
geanticline. If the secondary geosyncline during its slow subsidence
constantly remained fairly well filled with an accumulation of sedi-
ments and if in a later stage of evolution a general elevation of the
secondary geosyncline and geanticlines takes place, the filling of the
central basin w411 serve as evidence of older fracture-movements on
both sides of the original secondary geosyncline. Different stages in
this evolution are represented in the Timor-Ceram row of islands.^
The islands of the Tenimber group consist of two rows with elevated
reefs, which are separated by a zone in which during the latest stage
of the mountain-building process positive movements have prevailed.
At Timor the geanticline may have already passed through the stage of
* H. A. Brouwer. The horizontal movement of geanticlines and the fractures near their
surface. Journ. of Geol. 29: 566. 1921.
APR. 4, 1922 brouwer; tectonic features dutch east indies 1S5
development represented by Tenimber Islands. Flexures and faults
of considerable horizontal magnitude occur at the walls of a central
basin which has been formed and filled with sediments in Plio-Pleisto-
cene time. Later a general elevation of the island has produced the
large anticline of the present island, with the highest reefs in the
central part. We suppose that in this later stage of evolution the rate
of horizontal forward progression of the deeper parts was greater than
that of the superficial parts and that the parts which were near the
surface and originally were above the downward moving secondary
geosyncline were in a following stage of evolution above rising parts
at greater depth and were, therefore, elevated above the sea.
A fine example of parallel rows of islands which are developing
as geanticlines with intermediate geosynclines are the Tukang Besi
Islands southeast of Celebes. They consist of four rows — two of which
bear elevated reefs and mark the geanticlinal axes; while the other
two are characterized by reefs and atolls, and mark the geosynclinal
axes.
Only a limited number of the general t^^pes of fracture-movements
have been described. The position of the fissures and faults is con-
trolled by a great many factors, the discussion of which would exceed
the scope of this paper. But the types mentioned sufficiently illustrate
the thesis, that the majority of the fractures in the East-Indian Archi-
pelago are the surface expression of differences in velocity of horizontal
and vertical movements, which are the result of compressional stress.
That these movements still continue is proved by the position of the
epicenters of modern earthquakes, of which we will mention those
along the southwestern prolongation of the transverse dislocation in
Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.
LITERATURE AND MAPS
A bibliography of the more important publications on this subject
to 1917 is given in the Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in Ned. Indie,
Verhand. 1917, II, with Atlas. Our map is compiled from the maps
in this atlas with additional information.
Since 1917 there have appeared other publications for which see
the annual bibliography of geological publications on the Dutch
East Indies by R. D. M. Verbeek in Verhand. Geolog. — Mijnbouwk.
Genootschap voor Nederland en Kolonien.
186 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
858th MEETING
The 858th meeting of the Philosophical Society of Washington was held in
the Cosmos Club auditorium, December 17, 1921 and was called to order at
8.15 p.m. by President Crittenden, with thirty-nine persons present. The
program was as follows:
W. W. CoBLENTz: The effective temperature of stars as estimated from the
energy distribution in the complete spectrum (illustrated). The paper was
discussed by Messrs. Priest, Hawksworth, Foote, Humphreys and
Crittenden.
The object of the present investigation was: (1) to test new stellar ther-
mocouples; (2) to verify previous measurements of stellar radiation; (3) to
measure the radiation intensities of bright stars in the region of 0 hours to
12 hours of right ascension, not previously measured; and (4) to determine the
feasibility of the method of obtaining the spectral energy distribution of stars
by means of transmission screens which, either singly or in combination, are
placed in front of the vacuum thermocouple.
By means of vacuum thermocouples, measurements were made on the total
radiation intensities of 13 bright stars not observed in 1914, thus completing
the survey of the whole sky. A total of 30 celestial objects were measured,
including Venus and Mars.
By means of a series of transmission screens (of yellow and red glass, of water,
and of a thick plate of quartz), wide spectral regions were isolated and the
radiation intensities in the spectrum from 0.3/x to 0.43ai; 0.43/^ to O.Gai; 0.6/x
to 1.4/x; lAyi to 4.1yu; and 4.1/i to lO/x were determined. In this manner the
distribution in energy in the spectra of 16 stars was determined, thus obtaining
for the first time an insight into the radiation intensities in the complete
spectrum of a star.
By means of these transmission screens it was found that in the B and A-
class stars, the maximum radiation intensity lies in the ultra-violet (0.3^i to
0.4/i) while in the cooler, K and M-class stars, the maximum emission lies
at 0.7ai to 0.9/i, in the infra-red.
A calculation is made of the spectral component radiations of a black body
at various temperatures, using the spectral transmission data on these screens.
From a comparison of the observed and the calculated spectral rediation
components, it appears that the black-body temperature {i. e., the temperature
which a black body would have to attain in order to emit a similar relative
spectral energy distribution) varies from 3,000° C. for red, class M stars
(6,000° for the yellow, solar type) to 10,000° or perhaps even higher for blue,
class B stars.
The observing station being much higher than that previously used (7,300
feet as compared with 4,000 feet), the atmospheric scattering of light was
greatly reduced ; consequently, when the water cell was interposed the trans-
missions in the violet were somewhat higher than previously observed. How-
ever, all the data verify previous measurements showing that red stars emit
3 to 4 times as much infra-red radiation as blue stars of the same visual mag-
nitude. Moreover, observations made on the same night (same weather
conditions) are consistent in showing small gradations in the infra-red radia-
APR. 4, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 187
tion component that correspond with the small gradations (say B2 and B8) in
spectral classes.
For binary stars having companions of low luminosity the water-cell
transmissions are low, indicating that the companion stars emit considerable
infra-red radiation.
Among the subsidiary investigations made with a view to the improvement
of stellar radiometers, the complete paper gives data on the radiation sensitiv-
ity of thermocouples of alloys of gold-palladium, platinum-rhodium, bismuth-
tin, bismuth-antimon}^, and also of pure bismuth.
In conclusion, it is relevant to note that in comparison with the photo-
electric cell the thermocouple is far less sensitive, and hence the number of
stars that can be measured by it is more limited. Neither instrument can
tell us the size or distance of stars. The thermocouple enables one to obtain
information not obtainable by other instruments. Combined with an ab-
sorption cell (of water) one can detect the presence of dark companions of
binary stars. This device also gives us a new means for studying planetary
radiation and temperature conditions. If the surface of a planet becomes
warmed by the sun's rays, and in turn emits radiation (which will be entirely of
long wave-lengths) the amount of radiation transmitted through the water
cell will be less than when the reflecting surface remains cool. Data of this
type were previously obtained on the moon. Applied to the planet Mars, if
the polar cap is snow, then the transmission of reflected sunlight should be
higher than that observed from the dark areas, if the latter are bare ground.
On the other hand, if the dark areas contain green vegetation (similar to that
of our earth) the temperature rise will be small, the water-cell transmission
will be high, and the results may be difficult of interpretation.
Paltl D. Foote, F. L. Mohler and W. F. Meggers: "A significant ex-
ception to the principle of selection" (presented by Mr. Foote and illustrated).
The paper was discussed by Mr. Hawksworth.
The pair Is — 3d of sodium and potassium, in Sommerfeld's theory necessi-
tates an interorbital transition where the change in azimuthal quantum num-
ber is two units. The presence of this pair has always been attributed to
the incipient Stark effect of the exciting field. In the present paper an ex-
perimental arrangement is described wherein the radiation is completely
shielded from the applied field, itself only 7 volts. The pair may then be
produced at will by increasing the exciting current until it is one of the strong-
est lines of the spectrum. It therefore is an exception to the selection prin-
ciple which cannot be explained away by a Stark effect. Its explanation is of
deeper origin, possibly requiring a reconsideration of the method whereby
single azimuthal quantum numbers have been assigned to each of the s, p, d
and b terms.
Walter P. White: Some precision pendulums (illustrated). The paper
was discussed by Messrs. Pawling, Press, Tuckerman and Silsbee.
Pendulums are practically always driven by a push in the direction of
motion. This may take two forms : (1) A direct push is given symmetrically
about the middle of the stroke. This is usually done by force applied at
right angles to the direction of motion, acting on an inclined surface (pallet).
This method involves considerable friction and consequent possibility of
irregularity. (2) The pendulum meets and pushes against a pallet which
acts on an opposing weight or spring, and which follows the pendulum in the
return to a point beyond that at which it was picked up. The opposing pallet
188 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
is then brought back to the original position by the driving train of wheels.
This arrangement is equivalent to a push over the distance between the two
points, those of meeting and leaving the pallet. Here friction is less, but is
not completely absent, since there is friction in unlocking the train each time
it moves.
If electric working is introduced friction can be entirely avoided. An
impulse can be given magnetically at the middle point of the swing, but the
difticulty of keeping this impulse constant and applying it at exactly the right
time seems to make this method less satisfactory than an electrically-operated
form of the second type of drive, which is now exceedingly simple. The
pendulum merely lifts a small pallet, contact with which causes a current to
flow, which by means of a magnet shifts the stop of the pallet. Contrary
to some rather positive statements, it has been found by several experimenters
that the contact in this form of drive can be operated without any friction and
with pressures less than 1 gram.
Some very simple equations were developed for determining the magnitude
of the errors with this arrangement, and hence the best practical dimensions to
give it in any particular case. These equations are applicable to the other
forms of drive, and show: (1) A light and long pallet is preferable as long as
the pressure is sufficient for proper contact. This is because the errors due to
friction, or to displacement, or wear of the stops, become less as the length
increases. (2) The error from displacement of the stops, that is, from im-
proper timing of the driving pressure, is a minimum when this pressure ex-
tends over half the swing. Contrary to much received opinion, therefore, an
instantaneous impulse at the middle of the swing may be a relatively disad-
vantageous method of driving. (3) It is possible, and sometimes probably
advantageous, with the second form of drive, to arrange to compensate for the
circular error of the pendulum, that is, the error caused by variation in arc
of swing. (4) In the Riefler mechanism, which belongs to the second type of
drive, the driving pressure acts over an arc which is dependent on the speed
with which the escapement wheel revolves when unlocked. This is really a
disadvantageous element in the design, against which, however, are to be
set the efficiency of the unlocking arrangement and the general good workman-
ship of this make of pendulum.
Adjournment at 10 p.m. was followed by a social hour.
H. H. Kimball, Recordin'g Secretary.
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
627th meeting
The 627th meeting of the Biological Society of Washington was held in the
lecture hall of the Cosmos Club, May 14, 1921, at 8.00 o'clock. President
HoLLisTER was in the chair, and 28 persons were present. The minutes for
the 62()th meeting of April 80 were read and approved, and the following were
elected to membership: Dr. Rudolph Kuraz, Mr. E. C. Leonard and
Robert F. Griggs. It was announced that the present meeting was the
last before the summer recess.
Informal Communications: Dr. T. S. Palmer stated that doubt rests upon
the native origin of oppossums in California. There is a record ninety years
old of oppossums on the California-Mexico border. Dr. Grinnell shows,
however, that oppossums were introduced in the San Jose neighborhood in
APR. 4, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY 189
1910, and these have flourished. 200 skins have been marketed in the last
two years. Dr. R. W. Shufeldt exhibited two new books, (1) Early Annals of
Ornitholog}^ by John H. Gurney, containing quotations from early literature.
(2) Life of Samuel White, by his son, Capt. S. A. White. Mr. F. C. Lincoln
stated that one of a hundred common tern which were banded in Eastern
Rock, Maine, on July 3, 1913, was found floating upon the Nile River, Africa,
in August, 1917. This record points to the possible identity, which has been
•questioned, of the European and American Common Tern. Dr. R. E. Coker
announced a 3 day conference to be held in June at Fairport, Iowa, on con-
servation of life in inland waters, under the chairmanship of Dr. S. A. Forbes.
Great interest and appreciation of the problems involved is already apparent.
Mr. Libbey stated that during the da}^ Bicknell's Thrash had been seen, and
Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were feeding upon oak galls. Dr. T. S. Palmer
stated that while Bicknell's Thrush undoubtedly passes through the District
of Columbia, it had never before been seen. It was described from Colombia
many years before Bicknell was born. Dr. Palmer made a minute upon the
death of Mr. William Palmer, born in England in August 1S56, died in New
York City, April 8, 1921. He was appointed taxidermist in the National
Museum at the age of 18, where much of his work exists. He was on many
extended tours, and was a member of the Council of the Society at the time of
his decease.
Formal Comnninicatiofis: F. G. Ashbrook, Recent notes on the Jur trade in
the United States. He said in part: Prior to the World W^ar the world's
fur market was in London. St. Louis and New York now are the fur centers.
The value of the raw skins ranges from 1-7 millions annuallv. In 1920 the
finished value was $84,000,000; exports were $34,000,000'. The turnout
during the 1920 fur sale in 1921 will be $352,000,000 in which the taxes will
be $1.5,000,000. Thus the growth of a once neglected industry: Fur bearing
animals are little protected by general agitation among the public. It re-
quires legislation which preser^^es the game without destroying the trade.
vSince 25% of the skins are unprime, the seasons should be properly limited and
trappers licensed. Reports should be made under oath, and licenses should
be denied or cancelled upon occasion. Certain regions should at times
be closed, with proper protection to farmers against enemies. The laxity
of enforcement of laws in some states is to be deplored. Rearing and stocking
is to be encouraged; it is successful when intelligently done. There are 500
persons in the LTnited States breeding animals for their skins.
Mr. Ashbrook's paper was discussed by Mr. Doolittle and Dr. Palmer.
Mr. S. a. Rohwer: Injurious and beneficial insect galls. He said: A gall
is a malformation in plant tissue made in course of the development of insect
larvae. Galls may be due to the irritation of oviposition or to some enzyme
or both. In either case the insect has abundant nourishment. The galls made
by different insects are characteristic. Galls have furnished topics for poems
and other literature. Their use in medicine is based largely upon supersti-
tion, but they are a source of astringents.
As related to man some galls are slightly or not at all injurious to plants
in which he is interested. vSuch are the Cynipid galls on oak leaves, and
many others on roots and twigs. The beneficial aspect of galls is recent.
They are the basis of some dyes, and all permanent black inks of United States
and Europe. The superiority of London seal skins over Paris skins was due
to the Aleppo gall from Turkey. A Chinese gall produced by aphids on Rhus
190 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
is a fair substitute for the Turkey product. One firm uses $150,000 worth
in one year. The Cahfornia Oak Apple is large, contains 30% tannic acid,
and makes satisfactory ink. The Texas Ball also has high content.
There are two types of tannin, the iron-green and the iron-green-blue.
The chemistry of galls still requires investigation, as not all galls produce
tannin of equal value.
Some galls are injurious. In 1917 galls destroyed in a large area all the
acorn catkins, destroying the acorns and the hog forage in that region. Other
galls kill growing tissues, causing a second growth. An internal gall occurs
in California. No damage is observable until the insect emerges and no
defensive measures are possible.
The paper was illustrated by lantern slides of various galls and gall insects,
and tables showing the tannin content of many fresh and cured galls. Mr. E.
A. Goldman discussed the paper.
The Society adjourned at 9.55.
A. A. DooLiTTLE, Recording Secretary.
628th meeting
The 628th meeting of the Biological Society of Washington was held in the
Lecture Hall of the Cosmos Club, October 29th, 1921, with Vice President
GiDLEY presiding, and 36 persons present. The minutes of the 627th meeting
of May 14th were read and approved, and Messrs. Frank E. Ashbrook and
J. Wade were elected to membership, and Mrs. Julius ParmaleE and Miss
Erma Brown.
Informal Commtinications: Dr. T. S. Palmer announced the annual meeting
of the American Ornithological Union at Philadelphia on the 8th, 9th and
10th of November. Dr. H. M. Smith gave some records of the Kamchatka
Sea Eagle. The bird had been seen at Urangel in 1905, at Unalaska in 1906
by Austin Clark and by Professor J. V. vSnyder, seen also in Juneau in 1909.
Specimens have been taken by Dr. Hansen at the Priblofif Islands, and again
a specimen was taken at Kodiak Lake August 10 of this year. This is not a
marine bird, but rather of forests and rivers.
Formal Communications: Dr. R. S. BasslER: Sex characters in fossils.
The speaker said that sex is recorded plainly in vertebrate skeletons, and thus
easily recognized in fossils, but a similar condition does not occur generally
among invertebrates. However among Bryozoa and Ostracoda found as
fossils sex organs are present.
Recent Ostracods are without external sex structures, but paleo-species
have little swellings which careful study proves to be brood pouches, thus
distinguishing the sexes. The form, size and arrangement of these pouches
assist in their classification. Silurian and Paleozoic species are found with
these pouches, earlier and later species are without them.
The general structure of Bryozoa was described and the relation of the brood
pouch or ovisac to the rest of the anatomy was shown. The transition from a
very simple type to a more complicated type was traced, and the taxonomic
value of this character was shown. It is only in the form or position of the
brood pouches or ovisacs that distinction between many species is found.
Many species formerly regarded as identical are now differentiated. All
previous classification has thus been rendered obsolete; only those species
are classified in which the distinctive character appears as shown in the ovicell.
APR. 4, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 191
The paper was illustrated by numerous lantern slides and was discussed by-
Messrs. Gidley, Rohwer, Oberholser and Doolittle.
Dr. W. E. Safford: TJie Dahlia, its origin and development. Dr. Safford
stated that the botanical relationships of the cultivated Dahlia are difficult
to trace, having been crossed and recrossed under cultivation before they were
known to Europeans. They were first described and figured in 1791, from
specimens of Mexican origin by Cavanilles. Descriptions of some Dahlias
antedate the technical descriptions some 200 years in a study of the resources
of New Spain. At that time Hernandez describes varieties in form and color
showing that types thought to be modern were already developed. Many
of the interesting and remarkable modern forms have been developed by
crossing with a distinct type. Dahlia juarezii. Wild species have been found
in the mountains of Mexico and Central America by Maxon and Popenoe
which bear their discoverers' names.
The roots of the Dahlia are clustered and fleshy, containing not starch but
inulin, from which levulose or fructose is obtained. Owing to a bitter flavor
the roots are rejected by cattle and pigs. The levulose, however, is 60%
sweeter than sugar, and, since it crystallizes with difficulty, has great possi-
bilities as a syrup in sweetening drinks and desserts and preserves.
Dr. Safford's paper was illustrated with many beautiful colored slides of the
various types of Dahlias, including reproductions of the earliest drawings.
The paper will appear in another connection in the Journal of the Washington
Academy of vSciences. The paper was discussed by Messrs. Rohwer, Ober-
holser and others.
The Society adjourned at 10.00.
A. A. DooLiTTi^E, Recording Secretary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS
The Executive Committee of the Institute for Research in Tropical
America held its first meeting Saturday, January 14, at the rooms of the
National Research Council, for the purpose of organizing. A. S. Hitchcock,
representing the Smithsonian Institution, was elected Chairman; H. E.
Crampton, of the American Museum of Natural History, Vice-Chairman;
and A. G. Ruthven, University of Michigan, Secretary-Treasurer. The
Institute now includes 19 members.
Arrangements have been completed for enlarging the scope of the Journal
of the Optical Society of America. Beginning Januar}^, 1922, the publication
will be known as the Jotirnal of the Optical Society of America and Review of
Scientific Instruments. In addition to the papers on all branches of optics
heretofore carried, about three eighths of the total space will be devoted to
instruments other than optical. Beginning with May, 1922, the Journal
will be issued monthly instead of bi-monthly. The new Journal has been
placed on a strong financial basis and has the support of the Optical vSociety,
of the Association of Scientific Apparatus Makers of the United States of
America, of the National Research Council, and of several philanthropic
individuals interested in making the plan a success. Authors will welcome
this new feature as it affords almost the only source for the publication in
this country of papers describing instruments. Dr. Paul D. Foote of the
Bureau of Standards is editor-in-chief and Dr. F. K. RichTmyer, Cornell
University, is assistant editor-in-chief and business manager.
Among recent accessions by the Division of Plants are the following:
192 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 7
692 specimens of West Indian plants, chiefly from Trinidad, received as an
exchange from the New York Botanical Garden; 8-36 specimens from Brazil,
collected many years ago by Gardner and containing a large number of
duplicates of types, received as an exchange from the British Museum; .593
Panama ferns presented by Mrs. 1,- R. Cornman, San Diego, California;
400 specimens from the French Congo, received as an exchange from the
Jardin Botanique de I'Etat, Brussels; 277 African grasses collected by Dr.
H. ly. ShanTz, received as a transfer from the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S.
Department of Agriculture; 300 Panama plants presented by Brother Her-
IBERTO, Panama City; 167 Cuban ferns, received as an exchange from the
New York Botanical Garden, and 126 Philippine orchids, largely cotypes,
received as an exchange from Mr. OakES Ames, Boston, Massachusetts.
A series of specimens showing the complete working of the "Manul"
process of reprinting sent by the Polygraphic Company of Laupen-Berne,
Switzerland, is on exhibition in the Division of Graphic Arts, vSmithsonian
Institution. This process eliminates all resetting of type or the use of a
camera. The page is placed in contact with a sensitized transparent film
and exposed to the light. The light reflecting from the white parts of the
original affects the sensitized film while no reflection of light from the blacks
leaves the film unaltered. This film is used as a negative after being treated
with coloring matter and transfers the image to the zinc or aluminum plate
which is printed on a lithographic press in the customary manner.
In this process any work, written, drawn or printed, can be reproduced at
an obvious saving over older methods involving resetting all type matter or
making photographic negatives by the use of a lens and camera. The ex-
hibit includes the original pamphlet, the "Manul" film, the zinc lithographic
plate and a finished print.
Dr. C. G. Abbot, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, re-
turned to Washington January 4 from a trip of inspection to the Institution's
solar radiation station at Montezuma, near Calama, Chile.
Captain Roald Amundsen, the well-known polar explorer, visited the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Institution of Wash-
ington on January 16, in order to complete arrangements with regard to
cooperative work in terrestrial magnetism and atmospheric electricity be-
tween the Department and his forthcoming expedition to the Arctic Regions.
During the Northeast Passage, 1918-1921, the Amundsen Expedition made
a series of highly valuable magnetic observations at somewhat over 50 differ-
ent points. Captain Amundsen's chief scientific assistant. Dr. H. U. Sverd-
RUP, has been associated with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism since
last October in order to complete the reduction and publication of the mag-
netic observations thus far obtained by the Expedition. He will rejoin the
Maud, Captain Amundsen's vessel, early in March at Seattle. It is expected
that Captain Amundsen will resume his arctic expedition about June 1.
During his brief stay in Washington, Captain Amundsen also paid a visit
to the non-magnetic ship Carnegie. In the evening he met at the Cosmos
Club a number of the scientific men of Washington with whom he discussed
the plans of his arctic expedition, the chief object of which is to obtain scien-
tific data relating to geography, oceanography, meteorology, gravity, terres-
trial magnetism and atmospheric electricity.
August Busck has recently returned from an extended trip in the West
APR. 4, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 193
Indies, where he was investigating the pink boel worm of cotton for the Bureau
of Entomolog^^
IMr. Fuller Clarkson resigned from the Fixed Nitrogen Research Lab-
oratory December 1, 1921, to accept a position in the research laboratories
of the Procter and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. A. S. Hitchcock, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, returned on Decem-
ber 23 from a trip to the Orient where he went to study the grasses, especially
the bamboos. He visited the Philippines, Japan, central and south China,
including the island of Hainan, and Indo-China.
Representative Albert Johnson of Washington was appointed a regent
of the Smithsonian Institution on January 4 by Speaker Gillett of the House,
and Representatives Lemmel Padgett and Frank L. GrEENe were re-
appointed as regents.
Adolf Tonduz, the well-known botanical collector in Central America,
died at Guatemala City, Guatemala, in the latter part of 1921. Mr. Tonduz
was a native of Switzerland, who received his early botanical training under
Alphonse De Candolle, and emigrated to Costa Rica in early manhood. He
was for many years connected with the Instituto Fisico-Geografico of San
Jose, of which H. Pittier was director, and was associated with Mr. Pittier
in a natural history survey of Costa Rica. His specimens are well represented
in the U. S. National Herbarium and in the other large botanical establish-
ments of the world.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 April 19, 1922 No. 8
MINERALOGY. — Sincosite, a new mineral. (Preliminary note.)^
Waldemar T. SchallEk, Geological Survey.
The name sincosite is given to a green hydrous calcium vanadyl
phosphate, CaO.V2O4.P2O5.5H2O, occurring in a black carbonaceous
shale near Sincos, Peru. The mineral forms rectangular plates and is
uniaxial negative. Some of the crystals are biaxial. Sincosite be-
longs to the uranite group of minerals (autunite, torbernite, carnotite,
etc.) and illustrates the unexpected "equivalent valency" of quadri-
valent vanadyl -vanadium with sexivalent uranic-uranium. Analysis
of sincosite: CaO, 12.1 (calc. 12.33); V2O4, 36.3 (calc. 36.57); P2O5,
31.7 (calc. 31.28); HoO, 19.9 (calc. 19.82); Insoluble, 0.3; total, 100.3.
The full description of the mineral and a discussion of the relationships
of all the minerals of the uranite group, will be published soon.
MINERALOGY. — Cristobalite from the Columbia River Basalt of
Spokane, Wash.- Earl V. Shannon, United States National
Museum.
Recently while engaged in studying the minerals contained in
gas cavities in the Columbia River Basalt from Spokane, Washington,
the writer has identified the rare mineral cristobalite in a number of
specimens. Although all of the minerals of these specimens will be
described in detail in the final paper, to be published in the Proceedings
of the U. S. National Museum, it is desired here to call attention to this
new occurrence of this rare mineral and to outline, briefly, the
mineralogic features of the locality as indicated by the work thus
far completed. The specimens were donated as a carefully selected
series to the Museum by Mr. Henry Fair of Spokane, to whom
grateful acknowledgment is here tendered.
The rock containing the minerals is the ordinary monotonous basalt
of the vast Columbia River lava plateau and came from various
street and railway excavations in the City of Spokane. The rock
1 Received January 20, 1922.
2 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
195
196 JOURNAIv OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO, 8
contains scattered cavities varying up to several inches in diameter,
the first lining of which consists of small blade-like crystals of a plagio-
clase identified by its optical properties as oligoclase-andesine. Upon
this crust rest the disseminated white crystals of cristobalite and mi-
nute octahedrons of magnetite following which was deposited siderite
("sphaerosiderite") in small spherical masses. Later successive
deposits include, in the order named, pyrite, iron opal, second genera-
tion sphaerosiderite, calcite, white opal, and hyalite. Weathering has
converted some of the nodules of siderite to secondary pseudomorphs
of limonite and goethite.
The cristobalite forms sub-translucent white crystals 0.5 mm. or less
in diameter irregularly scattered over the interior of the cavities.
These have a feeble luster and a white porcelain-like appearance.
It was possible to detach several of the cristobalites from the matrix
and to measure them on the 2-circle goniometer with sufficient accuracy
to identify the forms and to indicate isometric symmetry. Most of
the crystals are cuboctahedrons with the faces of the cube and octahe-
dron equally developed. The faces are commonly concave or divided
by sutures so as to give several signals while the cube faces often
show a confusion of slightly re-entrant angles suggesting complex
twinning and grading toward the spherulitic forms characteristic of the
mineral. Rarely a crystal is observed which shows no indication of
this twinning and which has the exterior form of a simple isometric
crystal. The best of these measured was a cuboctahedron with its
edges beveled by narrow faces of the trapezohedron. The latter form
has not previously been observed on crystals of this mineral.
Under the microscope the material has a feeble birefringence and
has a refractive index of 1.485=*= .003. The crystals are unchanged
by boiling in hydrochloric acid and are volatilized without leaving
any residue by evaporation with hydrofluoric and sulphuric acids.
Although cristobalite has recently been described from several locali-
ties in the United States this is the first locality in this country to
furnish measurable crystals of this mineral.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. — Review of the optical-crystallographic prop-
erties of calcium oxalate monohydrate} Edgar T. Wherry,
Bureau of Chemistry.
The mineral whewellite, calcium oxalate monohydrate, was dis-
covered in 1840, and has subsequently been the subject of considerable
* Received Dec. 3, 1921.
APR. 19, 1922 wherry: calcium oxalate monohydrate 197
crystallographic and optical investigation. The literature contains,
however, contradictory statements as to its optical properties.
Definite data upon these properties being desired for use in the study of
this compound as it occurs in plant tissues, the various papers have
been critically reviewed. Crystalline fragments have also been studied
by the immersion method, and the final conclusions as to the optical-
crystallographic properties of the substance are here presented.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY
Calcium oxalate monohydrate crystallizes in the holohedral class
of the monoclinic system; its axial ratio a:b:c and axial angle /3have
been determined as follows.
Authority Date a b c ff
Miller^ 1840 0 .8696 1 1 .3695 72° 42'
Becke^ 1907 0 .8628 1 1 .3677 73 00
Ungemach^ 1909 0 .8620 1 1 .3666 73 02
Kolbeck, Goldschmidt &
Schroder^ 1918 0 .8696 1 1 .3695 72 42
The elaborate study of the mineral made by the last three authors
appears to have definitely established the correctness of the Miller
axial values.
The crystals are usually highly modified, but on the whole the
base, the clinopinacoid and the unit prism are the dominant forms.
A wide variety of habits has been noted. See figure 1 . The most frequent
appears to be prismatic, elongated on axis c, but elongation in the direc-
tions of axis a, axis 6, and the zones of the pyramids (112) and (121)
have also been observed. Tabular habits on the base, the clinopinacoid,
and the dome (101) occur as well. Twinning is frequent on the nega-
tive unit orthodome (101). At all of its seven known localities the
mineral is stated to be associated with some carbonate mineral, calcite,
siderite, dolomite or ankerite, so that these habits represent the result
of crystallization in an alkaline environment.
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
The values of the refractive indices for D light, a, (3, y, and optic
axial angle 2 E given by different authors are tabulated here.
2 Phil. Mag. (3) 16: 450. 1840.
3 Min. petr. Mitth. 26: 391. 1907.
* Bull. soc. franc, min. 32: 20. 1909.
sBeitr. Krvst. Min. 1: 199. 1918.
198 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
y
— e > — a
a
a
d
I
A
I
I
a
- h \-(3
/3
3 e
T
- '73 - J
/ \
Fig. 1. Outlines of crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate.
l
|C
-^
I
APR. li), 1922 wherry: calcium oxalate monohydrate 199
Authority Date a ff y y — a 2E
Schubert^ 1899 ... 1 .549 ... ... 89°
Becke" 1907 1.490 1.555 1.650 0.160 84° 40'
Jezek* 1908 1 .490 1 .555 1 .649 0 . 159 83° 42'
Jezek9 1911 1.491 1.555 1.650 0.159 83° 55'
Average 1 490 1 .555 1 .650 0 . 160 84
o
The values given by Becke and by Jezek agree within the limits of
error of measurement, and the rounded average in the last line may be
accepted as characteristic of the substance. Examination by the
immersion method confirmed them completely. The material breaks
into angular fragments without definite crystallographic orientation,
so that values intermediate between the several indices are usually
obtained, but the indices as given appear with sufficient frequency to
show their correctness. The value of 2 E, as calculated from 2 V, is so
high as not to be measurable under the microscope, but partial figures
are often seen in the fragments studied by the immersion method, and
on them the optical sign can be determined as positive, by the use of
the selenite plate.
The greatest discrepancies in the literature upon whewellite concern
the optical orientation, the following different descriptions of which
are given:
Authority Date Position of axial plane Position of acute bisectrix
Becke^" 1907 Perpendicular to (010) In obtuse angle /329 ° from axis c.
Jezekio 1908
Winchell" 1909 " - 1 1 1/2 ° from axis c.
Groth'2 1910 Parallel to (010) In acute angle /364 ° from axis c.
Jazek'o 1911 Perpendicular to (010) In obtuse angle i330 ° from axis c.
Study, by the immersion method, of a number of samples, represent-
ing fragments of the mineral whewellite, crystals in the tissues of vari-
ous plants, and crystalline precipitates prepared by boiling together
dilute solutions of the constituent ions, has indicated that the data of
Becke and Jezek are correct. In accordance with this interpretation
of the orientation, the following features correspond to the more
frequent habits:
« Min. petr. Mitth. 18: 251. 1899.
' Loc. cit.
8 Bull. int. Acad. vSci. Bohemia 13: 1; 22: 1. 1908; through Z. Kryst. Min. 46: 610. 1909.
« Rozpr. Ceske Akad. TI, 20: 1. 1911; through Z. Kryst. Min. 54: 191. 1914.
'° Loc. cit.
'1 Elements of optical mineralogy, . 391, 1919.
'- Chemische Krystallographie 3: 152. 1910.
200 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
Sign of Extinc- Twinning Inferred
Refractive indices elonga- tion plane habit —
Lengthwise Crosswise tion angles may show elongated on
« 1.490 /3 1.555 7 1-650 .. 0° Lengthwise axis 6
0 1.555 « 1.490 7 1.650 ± o-13° Cmsswise or
lengthwise axis a
7 1.650. a 1.490 /3 1.555 + 0-30° Diagonally axis c
7 1.650 a 1.490 /3 1.555 + 0-6 1/2° Lengthwise zone of e : 6
These data are being applied to the study of the crystals of calcium
oxalate occurring in official crude drugs and other plants, a report on
which will appear elsewhere.
BOTANY. — Twc new species of Acanthospermum from the Galapagos
Islands} S. F. Blake, Bureau of Plant Industry.
Several months ago I published- a revision of the genus Acantho-
spermum, a small group of Asteraceae closely related to Melampodium,
from which it is distinguished technically by the presence of spines
or hooked prickles on the indurated phyllaries which envelop the ray
achenes. Of the eight species there described the most aberrant is
Acanthospermum lecocarpoides Robins. & Greenm., the sole member of
the Section Lecocarpopsis, which is distinguished from the two other
sections of the genus by its pinnatifid leaves, plump trigonous-turbin-
ate fruit bearing spines only around the broadly rounded apex, and
comparatively large rays.^ The species, seen by me only in two
collections from Hood Island, Galapagos Archipelago, is remarkable
for its rather close resemblance in every feature but the fruit to the
monotypic genus Lecocarpus Decaisne, which is confined to Chatham
and Charles Islands of the same group.
After the paper above referred to had been turned in for publication,
1 found at the Gray Herbarium two sheets of Acanthospermumy
collected by Alban Stewart on Chatham and Gardner-near-Hood
Islands, which appeared to represent two new species of the Section
Lecocarpopsis. Through the kindness of Miss Alice Eastwood, I
was able to supplement these two sheets by the extensive series of
mounted and unmounted duplicates of the same two numbers in the
herbarium of the California Academy of Sciences. vStudy of this
material, amounting in all to 42 sheets, shows that it unquestionably
represents two new forms of the Section Lecocarpopsis. Since these
1 Received March 5, 1922.
2 Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 20: 383-392, pi. 23. 1921.
' The extreme corky-woody thickening of the fruiting phvllaries at maturity is also
characteristic of this section of the genus.
APR. 19, 1922 BLAKE: acanthospermum i^rom gai^apagos islands 201
forms, although closely related, are not connected by intermediates,
they are here treated as species.
Since the days of Darwin's voyage on the Beagle, the Galapagos
Archipelago has been a classical region for the study of the evolution
of closely allied forms of both plants and animals. The three species of
Acanthospermum here discussed make an interesting addition to the
list of plant groups represented on different islands by distinguishable
forms so closely related that their origin from a common ancestor,
and presumably at no great distance in the past, is incontestable.
The abundant material representing two of these forms, moreover,
affords a basis for a greater degree of assurance as regards their prob-
able distinctness than has often been the case previously.
As already mentioned, Acanthospermum is closely allied to Melampo-
dium. Melampodium is an American genus of about 43 species ranging
from Kansas to Brazil, and represented by one introduced species in
the Philippine Islands, but not known from the Galapagos Islands.
Acanthospermum includes, with the two species here described, ten
species, native in the West Indies, South America, and the Galapagos
Islands, and introduced in North and Central America and in the Old
World. In both genera only the ray flowers are fertile, and each achene
is closely enveloped and hidden by the corresponding subtending
phyllary. The compound structures, called "fruits" for the sake of
brevity, are armed in Acanthospermum with several or many spines or
hooked prickles. In Melampodium the achene-enclosing, phyllaries
are smooth or merely tuberculate, and are in one section developed
at apex into a cup or hood which may be prolonged into a single short
or long often recurved horn on the apical outer margin.
The most remarkable character of the three species of Acantho-
spermum here considered is the variability in the armament of the
fruits, a feature quite without parallel in the other species of the genus.
In this respect A. leptolobum is by far the most variable. Although
this species happens to be represented by far more material than the
others (34 sheets, as opposed to 8 of A. brachyceratum and 2 of A.
lecocarpoides) , this cannot be considered the explanation of the varia-
bility, since the extremes represented in figure 1, d-], are sometimes
found in a single head. Especially noteworthy is the type of fruit
represented in figure 1, /. Technically this fruit by itself would be
referred to Melampodium. The absence of spines in this type of fruit
seems to be due to a loss of vigor or nourishment, as indicated by the
comparatively small size, and not to infertility, for the seed is quite
202 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
Fig. 1. hea-ves and iruits oi Acanthospermum. — a,d-j, A. leptolobum; b, k-m, A. brachy-
ceratiim; c, n-p, A. lecocarpoides. a-c, X 1; d-p, X about 2. All drawn from the
types or specimens of the type collections. The ventral side of the fruits faces
left in each case.
APR. 19, 1922 BLAKE : ACANTHOSPERMUM FROM GALAPAGOS ISLANDS 203 '
as well developed in such fruits as in normal ones. One is tempted to
explain the variability of these three forms of Acanthospermum by
the supposition of a very recent origin. The suggestion may also be
made that the absence in the Archipelago of native mammals whose
fur would provide a means of transport for the spiny fruits may be in
some way correlated with the tendency to loss of spines. This tendency
toward abortion of spines in the fruits of various unrelated genera of
plants of the Galapagos Islands has already been mentioned by Robin-
son,^ and considered explicable by the paucity of indigenous mammals.
The three species of the Section Lecocarpopsis may be separated by
the following key.
Leaves usually divided about half way to midrib, the rachis 4 to 20 mm. wide;
body of fruit 4 to 5 mm. deep; horns usually subequal, or the outer longer
or rarely obsolete.
Leaf blades 4.5 to 9 cm. long, 2.2 to 4.-5 cm. wide; peduncles 2.3 to 4.5 cm.
long; horns of fruit 3 to 7 mm. long, usually subequal; Hood Island.
A. lecocarpoides.
Leaf blades 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long, 1.7 to 2 cm. wide; peduncles about 1 cm.
long; horns of fruit 1 to 3 mm. long, the outermost the longest ; Gardner-
near-Hood Island. A. hrachyceratum.
Leaves divided nearly to the midrib, the rachis only 1 to 2 mm. wide; body
of fruit 2.2 to 3.5 mm. deep ; inner horns of fruit usually much longer than
the outer; Chatham Island. A. leptolobum.
Acanthospermum hrachyceratum Blake, sp. nov. Figure 1, b, k-m.
Base not seen; stem indurated, 60 cm. high, dichotomous, densely spreading-
hispidulous; leaves opposite, hispidulous and gland-dotted above and chiefly
on the nerves beneath; petioles 8 to 12 mm. long, connate at base, narrowly
margined; blades oval-ovate, 1.5 to,2.5 cm. long, 1.7 to 2 cm. wide, obtuse,
cuneate at base, lobed about to middle, the lobes 5 to 7 pairs, cuneate or oblong,
revolute-margined, and toward apex 2 to 5-lobed with short obtuse densely
hispidulous lobes; peduncles solitary, terminal, densely sordid-hispidulous,
about 1 cm. long; heads 1.5 cm. wide; phyllaries 4, deltoid-ovate, obtuse,
entire, hispidulous, 6 mm. long, 5 mm. wide; rays about 8, yellow, oval,
tridenticulate, the lamina joined in a ring at base without proper tube, hispid-
ulous and stipitate-glandular dorsally, 5.5 mm. long, 2.8 mm. wide; disk
corollas numerous, yellow, the slender tube 1 mm. long, glandular, the cam-
panulate throat 0.8 mm. long, the triangular acute recurved teeth 1 mm. long;
pales acuminate, lanceolate, dentate at apex, stipitate-glandular above, about
3 mm. long; fruit turbinate, slightly compressed laterally, densely stipitate-
glandular throughout and somewhat hispidulous, the body 4.5 to 5.5 mm.
high, 4 to 4.5 mm. deep, bearing around the rounded apex 5 to 7 subulate
horns usually grooved on the inner side, the 2 to 4 inner ones shorter, spread-
ing or slightly ascending, 1 to 2 mm. long, the outermost one erect, with
broadened base, 2 to 3 mm. high, the one or two lateral ones similar to the
shorter inner ones.
Type in the Gray Herbarium, collected on Gardner-near-Hood Island,
Galapagos Islands, September 28, 1905, by Alban Stewart (no. 701). Dupli-
es. L. Robinson. Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38: 238. 1902.
204 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
cates in the herbarium of the CaHfornia Academy of Sciences and the U. S.
National Herbarium.
Gardner-near-Hood Island, on which this species is found, is a tiny islet
only 2 km. or less from Hood Island, the locality of A. lecocarpoides Robins.
& Greenm. The two forms are very closely related, but A. brachyceratum
may be distinguished by its much smaller, more finely lobed leaves, its shorter
peduncles, and its shorter-spined fruit. It is described by the collector^ as a
common bush two feet high.
Acanthospermum leptolobum Blake, sp. nov. Figure 1, a, d-j.
Annual, dichotomous, about 1 m. high, the stem and branches slender,
woody, grayish, densely tuberculate-hispidulous ; leaves opposite, rather
densely hispidulous on both sides; petioles about 8 mm. long, connate at base,
narrowly margined, about 1 mm. wide; blades ovate, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, 1.3
to 4 cm. wide, pinnatifid nearly to midrib, the leaf rachis 1 to 2 mm.
wide, the lobes about 5 pairs, mostly opposite, irregularly 2 to 8-lobed with
linear obtuse segments or the uppermost entire, the segments again sometimes
toothed; peduncles terminal, solitary, densely spreading-hispidulous with
subglandular hairs, 1.3 to 2.5 cm. long; heads about 3 cm. wide; phyllaries 4,
ovate, obtuse or acute, usually serrulate, hispidulous chiefly beneath, 8 to
10 mm. long, 4.5 to 6 mm. wide; rays 10, yellow, oval, tridenticulate, merely
closed in a ring at base without proper tube, about 9-nerved, stipitate-glandu-
lar dorsally, 10 mm. long, 4.5 mm. wide; disk corollas numerous, yellow, the
slender tube sparsely glandular, 1.5 mm. long, the campanulate throat 1 mm.
long, the five recurved triangular teeth 1 mm. long; stamens cordate-sagittate
at base; pales acuminate, lacerate-dentate above, stipitate-glandular, about
3 mm. long; fruit compressed-turbinate, densely stipitate-glandular and more
or less hispidulous, whitish at maturity, the body 2.8 to 3.5 mm. high, 2.2
to 3.5 mm. deep at apex, bearing at apex 1 to 5 horns, the 1 to 3 inner subulate
or lance-subulate, 1 to 4 mm. long, divergent-spreading, when large excavated
at the base, or sometimes wanting, the 1 to 3 outer triangular to subulate, erect
or curved-ascending, 1 to 4 mm. high, at least the central one excavated at
base, the latter sometimes represented only by its deeply excavated base and
without free portion, or all the horns entirely wanting.
Type in the Gray Herbarium, collected in woodland at Sappho Cove,
Chatham Island, Galapagos Islands, altitude 240 meters, February 10, 1906,
by Alban Stewart (no. 700). Duplicates in the herbarium of the California
Academy of Sciences and the U. S. National Herbarium.
Chatham Island, on which this species occurs, is about 50 km. from Hood
Island. Its representative of Acanthospermum, A. leptolobum, is so different
from that of Hood Island that its specific distinctness is likely to be confirmed
by future collecting, while the form found on Gardner-near-Hood Island,
A. brachyceratum, is so much closer to A. lecocarpoides that it may prove to be
only a variety. Stewart*^ describes his no. 700 as a common bush, 3 to 4 ft.
high, in woodland at 800 ft., and says: "Except for the presence of spines on
the achenes [fruits] the specimens from this island are more like Lecocarpus
5 A. Stewart. Botanical survey of the Galapagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. IV. 1: 148.
1911.
^ Loc. cit.
APR. 19, 1922 HITCHCOCK: PERENNIAL SPECIES OF TEOSINTE 205
foHosus than an Acanthospermum." T have not been able to verify his state-
ment that some of the material from Gardner-near-Hood Island (A. hrachy-
ceratum) has "some of the leaves deeply cut, as do the specimens from Chat-
ham Island."
In this species the slender stem is so woody that I was inclined to consider
it frutescent, until a specimen was found among the unmounted material
collected by Stewart which showed clearly that the plant was an annual.
In conclusion, it may be well to mention that the data for the specimens
collected by Mr. Stewart on the 1905-06 Galapagos Expedition of the Cali-
fornia Academy are in an unfortunate state of confusion. The 33 unmounted
sheets of A. lepiolobum, for example, are not accompanied by data, but they
are so clearly identical in every feature with his no. 700 as represented in the
Gray Herbarium and the herbarium of the California Academy of Sciences
that I have no hesitation in considering them a portion of the same collection.
BOTANY. — A perennial species of teosinte^ A. S. Hitchcock,
Bureau of Plant Industry.
In a recent article^ entitled Teosinte in Mexico, Mr. G. N. Collins
reviews our knowledge concerning teosinte in Mexico. Up to the
present all the forms of teosinte have been referred to one species,
Etichlaena mexicana Scbrad. There are two forms of this, both annual,
one from Durango, where it was collected by Dr. Edward Palmer, and
one grown in Florida, the origin of which is uncertain. The latter form
hasbeen grown in France and mayhavecome originally from Guatemala.
At present the only known localities for the annual teosinte in the wild
state are Durango and the State of Mexico near Chalco, where it was
recently collected by Collins. The origin of the specimens described
by European botanists is unkown.
The botanical history of the annual species is as follows:
Euchlaena mexicana vSchrad. Ind. Sem. Hort. Goettingen. 1832 ; reprinted in
Linnaea 8 : Litt. 25. 1833. I have not seen the original publication, an ephem-
eral seed list, but fortunately the reprint is accessible. Schrader describes the
genus and species together, "Euchlaena mexicana Schrad. Nov. Gen. e Gra-
minearum Olyrearum tribu," and so on. He describes the staminate spike-
lets as 1 -flowered instead of 2-flowered and the genus is placed with the Olyra
group. As to locality he says, "Mexico, Dr. Miihlenfordt." Nothing
further concerning the history of this is known.
Reana giovanninii Brign. Ind. Sem. Hort. Mutin. 1849. The publication
cited is also an ephemeral seed list which I saw at the Botanical Garden of
1 Received March 20, 1922.
- Journ. Hered. 12: 3.39. 1922.
206 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
Padua, Italy. Because of the rarity of the original pubhcation the description
is here reproduced.
Reana
Genus Novum
(Gramineae)
(Zeinae)
Flores monoici. Mascidi terminales paniculati: spica biflora, flora altero sessili, altero
pedicellato: staminibus sex. Feminei axillares, spicati, erecli, sessiles in axi flexuoso:
bracteis imbricatis ad medium usque involuti: stylis longissimis, exertis, pendulis: parte
spicae superiore, abortiva, exserta, erecta. Cariopsis curvo-trigona axe arete adhaerens.
Reana Giovanninii foliis amplexicaulibus, canaliculatis, angustis, integerrimis, longissimis.
Habitat in Mexico-Annua-Attulit ex loco natali D. Doct. Melchior Giovannini, Regiensis.
The description is quoted soon after in two botanical periodicals (Ann.
Sci. Nat. III. Bot. 12: 365. 1849; Flora n. ser. 8: 400. 1850).
Reana luxurians Dureiu, Bull. Soc. Acclim. II, 9: 581. 1872. The author
in speaking before the society mentions a grass called Teosinte which he thinks
is probably the name of a country. The seed probably came from Guatemala.
He speaks well of it as a forage plant and ventures to call it Reana luxurians.
The name is not technically published here as there is no description.
Euchlaena bourgaei Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg. 15: 468. 1876. In this
article Fournier reviews the synonymy and describes the genus more fully
than his predecessors. He describes three species, E. mexicana, E. hoiirgaei,
and E. giovanninii, the second being new. He distinguishes the last species
on description only, saying that he has seen no specimen with leaves as de-
scribed. His new species is described as being 2 feet tall, annual, and the
staminate inflorescence as consisting of a single terminal spike. The locality
is given as "In collibus prope Chiquihuite (Bourg. absque numerp), octobri."
He gives the locality for his specimen of E. mexicana as "In arena fluvii
€xsiccati prope mare Pacificum, vSan Agostin, octobri (Liebm. n. 548)."
Euchlaena luxurians Dur. & Aschers. Sitz.-Ber. Ges. Nat. Freunde Berlin
(session of Dec. 19, 1876) ; Bull. Soc. Linn. Paris 1 : 107 (session of Jan. 8,
1877). These two articles appeared about the same time and covered about
the same ground. In a preceding article {Ueber Euchlaena mexicana Schrad.
Verh. Bot. Ver. Brandenburg 17: 76. March 3, 1876) Ascherson discusses
the relation of Euchlaena to Tripsaciim. He states here that the plants of
E. mexicana were cultivated in the Berlin garden a few years and then dis-
appeared. In the herbarium was a specimen from the garden and one de-
posited by Nees. Ascherson states further that there is no specimen in the
herbarium at Gottingen to interpret Schrader's description. In the Trinius
Herbarium at the Academy of Sciences, Petrograd, the present writer saw a
fragment of "Euchlaena mexicana Schrad. e Hort. Goett."
In the first two articles mentioned Ascherson discusses at some length
the history of the genus Etichlaena. He is familiar with E. mexicana as
grown at the Berlin botanic garden. Previously the genus had been placed
APR. 19, 1922 HITCHCOCK : PERENNIAL SPECIES OF TEOSINTE; 207
near Olyra but he thinks it stands near Zea (Indian corn), in fact, that it
resembles closely a stunted plant of maize. He points out that the staminate
spikelets are 2-flowered instead of 1 -flowered as described by Schrader;
describes fullv the female or pistillate spikelets and discusses the relation to
Tripsacum and Zea, stating that Euchlaena is a Zea in which the female
inflorescence is nearly as in Tripsacum; and quotes Grisbach (Veg. Erde 1:
542) as doubting the American origin of corn because of its affinity with certain
Asiatic genera such as Coix, but Ascherson himself thinks Zea is much more
closely related to Tripsacum, an American genus. Ascherson discusses
Reana luxurians and takes occasion to transfer it to Euchlaena, of which genus
he considers it a second species differing in its greater size. There are as
manv as 150 culms to one plant, these being as much as 2V2 meters tall.
In the only staminate spikelet of E. mexicana he has seen the lemmas are
shorter than the glumes while in E. luxurians they are as long as the
glumes. The joints of the pistillate inflorescence are cylindrical and ob-
liquely truncated at the ends instead of being triangular as in E. mexicana.
This is the same difference distinguishing the Florida form of the cultivated
teosinte from the Dmrango form as pointed out by Mr. Collins.
In 1910 I collected in Mexico, near Zapotlan, now called Ciudad
Guzman, a perennial species of Euchlaena, and Mr. G. N. Collins
collected it at the same place in October, 1921, while searching for
teosintes in their native habitat. This species differs distinctly from
all previously known forms of teosinte in the possession of rhizomes and
is described below as new.
Euchlaena perennis Hitchc, sp. nov.
Plants perennial, producing strong scaly rhizomes; culms erect or somewhat
geniculate at base, firm, glabrous, 1 to 2 meters tall; sheaths striate, the striae
joined by numerous cross-veins, glabrous or some of them, especially the upper
or those of the branches, somewhat hispid in the region of the collar and
throat, the lower longer than the internodes, the upper shorter; ligule a short
somewhat lacerate membrane, 1 to 2 mm. long; blades linear or linear-
lanceolate, as much as 40 cm. long and 3 cm. wide, the upper shorter, some-
what cordate-clasping at base, acuminate, flat and rather thin, the white
midnerve prominent beneath, glabrous, strongly scabrous or scabrous-ciliate
on the margin, ciliate near the base; terminal inflorescence staminate, con-
sisting of 2 to 5 approximate, ascending or spreading racemes 6 to 12 cm. long,
the internodes between the lower ones about 1 cm. ; spikelets in pairs, the pairs
alternately to right and left on one side of a flat-triangular rachis, the rachis
internodes 5 to 8 mm. long, scaberulous or ciliate on the angles; spikelets 2-
flowered, 8 to 9 mm. long, elliptic or somewhat broader above, the middle one
of the pair nearly sessile, the other on an angular scaberulous pedicel 3 to 4 mm.
long, enlarged toward apex; first glume flat on the back, strongly inflexed at
the margins, smooth except the scaberulous-ciliate keels, these somewhat
winged above, slightly notched at apex, the midnerve rather faint, the strong
lateral nerves at the inflexed margins, a second faint pair intermediate;
208 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
second glume a little shorter than the first, glabrous, convex on the back,
loosely inflexed at the margins, thinner than the first, 5-nerved; lemmas and
paleas all hyaline, the first lemma faintly 5-nerved, this and the 2-nerved
palea about as long as the first glume ; second lemma faintly 3-nerved, narrower
and shorter than the palea, the latter nearly as long as the second lemma;
pistillate inflorescences in the axils of the leaves, partly protruding from the
sheaths, each wrapped in one or more sheathing bracts, consisting of a series
of pistillate spikelets on an articulate axis, the spike being 3 to 6 cm. long and
4 to 5 mm. thick, in some cases bearing above a raceme of staminate spikelets
as much as 10 cm. long; pistillate spikelets single, on opposite sides, sunken in
cavities in the hardened joints of an obliquely articulate rachis; joints of the
fruiting rachis trapezoidal, 6 to 8 mm. long, about 4 mm. thick the short side
2 to 3 mm. long; first glume indurate like the rachis joint, closing the cavity
containing the remainder of the spikelet, apiculate, about as long as the joint,
pilose in the sinus at base.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 727077, collected in prairie along
the railroad, about one mile south of the station, Zapotlan (Ciudad Guzman),
Jalisco, Mexico, September 22, 1910, bv A. S. Hitchcock (no. 7146). Also
collected at the type locality October 28, 1921, by G. N. Collins and J. H.
Kempton.
This species is distinguished by the rhizomes and scattered stems, the
plants growing in colonies. The pistillate spikes appear to be usually single
in the axils of the leaves.
ETHNOLOGY. — Customs of the Chukchi natives of northeastern
Siberia.'^ H. U. Sverdrup. (Communicated by Francis B.
Silsbee.)
Captain Amundsen's Expedition left Norway in 1918 with the in-
tention to follow the coast of Siberia eastward to the vicinity of Bering
Strait, proceed thence towards the north, let the vessel, the "Maud,"
freeze in, and drift with the ice fields across the Polar Sea back to the
Atlantic Ocean. The vessel was, however, forced by the ice conditions
to winter three times in different places on the northern coast of
Siberia, and was in 1921 compelled to go to Seattle for repairs.
In September, 1919, the Expedition was stopped by the ice at Ayon
Island, about 700 miles west of Bering Strait. Natives of the Chukchi
tribe, with herds of domesticated reindeer, were then living on the
island, but they would leave the coast in a few weeks and move inland
to the forests, where they are accustomed to spend the winters. This
group of the Chukchi was apparently very primitive, and had very
1 Abstract of an address delivered at a joint meeting of the Washington Academy of
Science and the Anthropological Society, February 16, 1922; received for publication
March 16, 1922. An extensive account, entitled "Blandt rentsjuktsjere og lamuter,"
has been published in Roald Amundsen's Nordostpassagen. Gyldendalske boghandel.
Christiania, 1921.
APR. 19, 1922 sverdrup: chukchi natives of Siberia 209
little communication with the civilized world. Captain Amundsen
realized that a unique opportunity was here afforded of gathering
information about this little known tribe, and he therefore suggested
that I join the natives, accompany them to the interior, and return to
the ship in the spring. Thus it came about that I spent seven and
one-half months alone among the Chukchi. The existence of the
natives among whom I stayed depends absolutely upon the domesti-
cated reindeer, which in winter live in the sheltered forests, where
reindeer moss is abundant under the soft snow, and in summer seek
the grass-covered tundra, where mosquitoes and hornets are less
troublesome. Hunting is unnecessary for the natives, because
the reindeer give them practically all they need — tents, clothes and
food. In addition, they need seal blubber for their lamps, and seal-
skin for strings and soles. These articles they obtain from the natives
at the coast in exchange for deerskin and deer meat. Furthermore,
they go CA'ery spring to the Russian settlements at the Kolyma River
to the yearly fur market, where they exchange their furs, mostly foxes
and squirrels, for tea, tobacco, matches, knives, cartridges, and so on.
The tents in which they live, summer and winter, are very well
adapted both to their nomadic life and to the climatic conditions.
Their most striking feature is that they are double, one being inside
another. The outer tent is large and almost conical, with a cover of
reindeer skin. But if such a tent in cold weather were to be heated
to a comfortable temperature, it would require a great quantity of wood.
The Chukchi spend, however, only three or four months of the cold
season in the forests, where wood is abundant; the rest of the year they
live on the barren tundra, where they find willows to furnish sufficient
fuel for cooking, but not for heating. Inside the large tent, therefore,
they place a smaller one, used for living and sleeping. This inner
tent is made of heavy deerskin, and has the form of a square case
hanging down to the ground. It is lighted and heated by a flat lamp of
the Eskimo type, but most of the heat is produced by the many people
who gather in the small space. The temperature may rise to 80° F.,
even on a day when a blizzard is raging and the temperature outdoors is
— 20 ° F. , because the inner tent is protected from the wind by the outer
one, and because the reindeer-skins of which it is made are highly insu-
lating. But at night, when the natives are sleeping on the ground,
covered with deerskins, the temperature is liable to fall. Accord-
ingly, before going to sleep, the natives adjust all the sides of the
inner tent so that no holes are left through which cold air might
210 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
enter. The natural consequence is, that in the morning the air inside
is frightful beyond description.
The Chukchi dress in deerskin only ; they use one suit with the hairy
side in and one with the hairy side out. The clothing of the men does
not differ essentially from the clothing of the Eskimos, but the women's
dress is entirely different. The Chukchi women wear high and very
wide deerskin boots, and what may be called a union dress reaching
to the knees. Ornaments on the dress are almost unknown ; the only
way in which the deer Chukchi try to give their dresses a more attrac-
tive appearance is by using white-spotted deerskins and matching them
so that the white spots appear symmetrical.
The reindeer supply practically all the natives' food. A few roots
are dug up in the spring and eaten, and the boiled contents of the
reindeer's paunch is regarded as delicious, but with these exceptions,
the diet is a pure meat diet. The Chukchi obtain the necessary variety
in their food by eating almost every part of deer, from the meat to
the marrow.
Furthermore, the reindeer are the beasts of burden; they have to
pull the clumsy sledges on which all the belongings of the natives are
packed, when they move from one place to another. When they are
moving or living in the same place, the task of the men is to attend to
the sledges, to keep the reindeer herd together, and the wolves away.
The latter is the task of the young men, who sometimes lead a strenu-
ous life. Occasionally it happens that for weeks at a time they do
not sleep under shelter, while in the same time the elder men do not
leave the tents. As soon as a man has a son, who is old enough to
take care of the reindeer, he himself quits. The highest ambition of a
man is, therefore, to have a son, or at least a son-in-law.
The young men handle the lassos with wonderful skill, and have an
astonishing knowledge of the deer. The average number of reindeer
belonging to one household is about 400 or 500, and a young boy
knows by sight not only his and his father's reindeer, but also all
belonging to the neighbors, which may mean several thousands.
Curiously enough, he is not able to tell how many he knows, because
the highest figure a Chukchi is able to handle seems to be 200 — 20
times 10. The task of the women is to tan the deerskins, make new
clothes, mend old ones, to cook, and to do do what may be called general
housework. The same rule applies to the women as to the men,
namely, that the younger have to do the work, the older may do what
they like.
APR. 19, 1922 SVERDRUP : CHUKCHI NATIVES Ol? SIBERIA 211
The language has one peculiarity worth mentioning ; it is pronounced
in a different way by men and women. If a man uses a hard sound
like r, i, or k, the woman often, but not always, replaces this with a
soft z. To take one example. The word for sinew is pronounced
by the men rat-tet, by the women ze-zet.
The chronology of the Chukchi is ver\^ simple; it does not exist.
They do not count the years, so nobody knows his own age. They
have, however, a word for "a year" and names for the different seasons
and for the full-moons, of which usually 13 occur in one year. To
enumerate the 13 months, the Chukchi count them on the 12 joints
on both arms from the finger-tips to the shoulders, including the
head for the thirteenth month.
Their social organization is almost as simple as their chronology.
The Russian officials used to appoint one or two chiefs, whose main
duty seemed to be to reconcile parties who were at odds. These
chiefs had, however, very little to do, because the Chukchi really
are governed by the unwritten laws of public opinion. These laws
require in the first place, respect for old age, and forbearance towards
the weak and poor. But they also open full opportunity for the young
and hot-tempered to fight out their controversies. To fight an old
man is regarded as one of the worst crimes. It is also regarded as
unworthy of a man to beat a woman, unless she happens to be his wife.
The women are, however, generally well treated. The marriages
are usually settled by the parents when the children are five or six
years old, and a small number of reindeer is paid for the girl. She
moves over to the tent of her future husband at the age of ten or twelve,
but may have to return to her home if she is not able to get along with
her mother-in-law. Single marriages are most common, but a few
men have two or even three wives.
The Chukchi are accustomed to kill the old people. This is, how-
ever, no act of cruelty, but an act of mercy. When an old man be-
comes ill and is unable to leave the tent any more, than life becomes
a burden to him and he a burden to his surroundings. He asks to be
killed, and his son renders him the last service by stabbing him in the
heart. The custom is barbaric, but the way in which the Chukchi
treat their dead is still more barbaric.
The body is taken out to a lonely place where the ground is un-
covered, and an oblong of large stones, with its axis in a southeast to
northwest direction is made on the ground. The body is placed in this
oblong with the head toward the northwest — towards the darkness,
212 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
and then the limbs are cut over at all joints up to the knee and elbow
joint, the head separated, and several deep cuts made in the body.
This is then covered with fresh deer meat. The dead has to have his
sledge, ax, knife, tobacco pipe, and tea-cup with him. On the next
day, the reindeer herd is taken to the burial place, a number of deer
are killed, and their antlers gathered into a large heap northwest of the
burial place. This ceremony is repeated usually three times at intervals
of one year. Later, the relatives of the dead one will sacrifice a piece
of meat or what they may have at hand, if they pass the burial place.
If the dead one has expressed a particular wish for it, his body may be
burned.
The religion of the Chukchi seems to be two fold . They have them-
selves no idols, but they keep a number of idols for the reindeer. Thus,
the fire drills used in former times for starting a fire are regarded as
some of the reindeer's idols. All ceremonies in which these idols play
a part seem intended only to guard the reindeer from the dangers
which surround them. Other ceremonies aim to guard the Chukchi
themselves. They aim to keep away the evil spirits living in the Earth,
or to reconcile them, and to seek help from the Sun, which seems to
represent the good powers. In addition, the Chukchi pay attention
to an endless series of small matters; their superstition is unlimited.
Their conception of the soul or mind is animistic. The soul develops
with the body; an old man is highly estimated because his soul is
great. At death, the soul separates from the body and goes to the
northwest, where it lives a kind of shadow life. It can, however,
communicate with the living, and the Chukchi believe that dogs act
as links between the living and the dead.
Generally, the Chukchi are perfectly content with their existence;
they have no desire to leave their country or change their habits.
They do not care for the outside world, as long as this outside world
is willing to bring tea and tobacco in exchange for fox-skins. Civiliza-
tion would not bring them any good, so it would be well if they might
remain as primitive as they are.
APR. 19, 1922 proceedings: entomological society 213
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
338th meeting
The 338th regular meeting of the Society was held March 3, 1921, in Room
43 of the new building of the National Museum with President Walton
presiding and 28 members and 5 visitors present. New Members: Wm. C.
Richardson, Richmond, Virginia; Chas. C. Hill, Bureau of Entomology
Laboratory, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Program
R. E. Snodgrass: Life-history of the resplendent shield-bearer of apple
and of ribbed cocoon maker.
Altogether popular in form this paper contained much of interest, being
based on studies of the insect made in connection with the beautiful drawings
with which the paper was illustrated. It was prepared for publication in
the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution.
Notes and exhibition of specimens
Dr. DiMiTRi Borodin, the noted Russian Entomologist, was introduced
to the society by Dr. Howard. Dr. Borodin addressed the Society briefly
in English and in Russian.
Mr. E. H. Gibson called attention to a posthumous paper by the late Otto
Heideman, which was omitted from the bibliography of Mr. Heidemann
published in the Proceedings of this Society. This paper, The Rhynchota
of the Isle of Pines, was published in 1917 in the Annals of the Carnegie
Museum
Mr. Wm. Middleton announced the discovery by himself that the males
of the sayfly genus Xyela belong to the group Stropandria, that is the gen-
italia are inverted. In this respect it differs from its nearest relatives.
Messrs. H. S. Barber and H. E. Ewing discussed the past histor}^ and re-
cent finding of insects of the primitive order protura, the latter recounting
in some detail the characteristics and affinities of the group.
Mr. E. R. Sasscer referred to the condition of French fruit and rose stocks
which have arrived in the United States since January 1, 1921. He stated
that in that period eighty-five nests of the Brown-Tail Moth had been taken
in thirty-two shipments, in contrast with sixty-three infested French ship-
ments which have arrived in this country during the last nine years. The
finding of so many nests in such a brief period indicates that the French in-
spection service is much below the standard of previous years, and to meet
this situation, all French shipments of rose and fruit stocks are now being
fumigated at the port of entry under the direction of the Department of
Agriculture, as well as inspected at destination by state inspectors. He fur-
ther stated that a warning had been sent to the French nurserymen and French
inspection service to the effect that if shipments continue to arrive infested
with nests of this injurious insect, it may be necessary to cancel all exist-
ing permits to import French stocks.
Interceptions have been made by the state inspectors of Connecticut
New York, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, North CaroHna, Pennsylvania,
214 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
Maryland, and Federal Inspectors in New York City, Philadelphia, and Wash-
ington, D. C.
He also stated that these French shipments were found to carry a number
of nests of the so-called White Tree Pierid, Aporia crataegi L.
Mr. A. B. Gahan stated that owing to misdeterminations the insects
hiterto known as Thyreodon morio (Fab.) and Exochilum mundum (Say) will
have to be called Thyreodon atricolor (Oliver) and Therion morio (Fab.),
respectively.
Dr. A. G. Boving discussed the larval structures of the rice water weevil,
Lissorhoptrus simplex. In some respects, especially in the form of the spira-
cles which are forced into the air chamber of the rice stem, this larva is similar to
that of Donacia. In most resects, however, it is like the other curculionids.
Mr. J. A. Hyslop called attention to the recent death of Dr. Charles H.
Fernald, for many years head of the department of entomology at the
Massachusetts Agricultural College.
339th meeting
The 339th regular meeting of the Society was held on April 7, 1921, in
Room 43 of the new building of the National Museum, with President Wal-
ton in the chair and 23 members and 5 visitors present. New Members:
C. D. B. Garrett, Cranbrook, British Columbia; Dr. W. R. Thompson,
Villa Pina Flor, Auch, Gers, France.
Corresponding Secretary Rohwer announced that by action of the Exec-
utive Committee the Society is furnishing the Proceedings to foreign insti-
tutions already subscribing, which cannot afford to subscribe at the present
rate of exchange, at the rate of exchange of 1914. Dr. Walther Horn of
the Berlin Entomological Museum had taken advantage of this offer and in
accepting it had also sent as a gift to the vSociety a set of photographs, many
in duplicate, of European Entomologists. These were exhibited by Mr.
RoHWER. Such of these as are not already in the voluminous collection of
Dr. Howard are to be added to that collection and the others oflfered for
sale.
Program
August Busck and Carl Heinrich: On the Male Genitalia of the Micro-
lepidoptera and their systematic Importance.
This paper showed how the different forms assumed by the various elements
of the genitalia furnish the best characters for the classification and recogni-
tion of insects of this group. It was illustrated by many photographic lan-
tern slides taken from the slide mounts of genitalia.
Mr. Busck also spoke of the finding in swarms by Mr. Schwarz at Plum-
mer's Island, Maryland of the hitherto rare moth, Ethmia macelhosiella
Busck, and the subsequent discovery of its host relations and life-history.
These swarms were first observed by Mr. Schwarz on November 8, 1916,
and in the following spring larvae found feeding on Phacelia developed into
adults of this species. The larvae reach full growth early in May, pupate in
bark, and emerge as adult moths late in the fall. The time and place of ovi-
position is not known.
In the discussion of the last Mr. E. A. Schwarz spoke of the somewhat
APR. 19, 1922 proceedings: entomological society 215
similar seasonal history of the weevil, Dorytomus inaequalis, the larvae of
which feed in the catkins of cottonwood.
S. A. Rohwer: Injurious and Beneficial Cynipid Galls.
Mr. Rohwer discussed the various types of galls with especial reference
to their relation to human welfare, and told of their use in the arts and of the
investigations conducted during the war into the possible substitution of
American galls for the ordinary galls of commerce. Lantern slides of many
galls were shown.
Dr. A. D. Hopkins spoke of a gall with deciduous grain-like cells which
are much eaten by poultry and which analysis shows are much more nutri-
tious than wheat. It is known as "black oak wheat."
340th meeting
The 340th regular meeting of the Society was held May 5, 1921, in Room
43 of the new building of the National Museum, with President Walton pre-
;siding and 20 members and 1 visitor present. New members: PerEz
Simmons, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C.
Program
A. B. Gahan: Phytophagous Chalcids.
This was a list compiled from literature, of the phytophagous Chalci-
doidea, not including the fig insects, and discussion of the probable evolution
of the phytophagic habit.
The speaker showed that phytophagy was now said to occur in six differ-
ent families of chalcid-flies, viz., Agaonidae, Callimomidae, Eurytomidae,
Encyrtidae, and Eulophidae. Seed Chalcids and joint-worm flies are not
the only phytophagic forms. Certain species are definitely stated to be
gall-makers and others are said to bore in plant tissue much as do certain
Coleoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. The list of food plants is a varied
one embracing such widely separated botanical groups as Leguminoceae,
Pomaceae, and coniferous trees. Many species are distinctly economic.
Not only are the phytophagous forms distributed through several families
but in many cases they apparently do not offer even minor group charac-
ters by which they may be separated from parasitic forms. Phytophagous
species of the genus Eurytoma can be separated specifically only with great
difficulty from those known to be parasitic. Several other genera contain
both plant feeding and parasitic forms. The phytophagous species belong
almost exclusively to groups in which a large percentage of the related para-
sitic forms breed in host larvae which are concealed in plant tissue, as for
example, gall-makers.
The speaker stated that the ancestors of the Chalcidoids were undoubtedly
plant feeders and that parasitism was a subsequent development. Unless
one believed that they arose from a source entirely separate from that of
other insects and at a later date it is impossible to conceive of their always
having been parasitic. Phytophagy as found in the group today, however, is
believed to be a comparatively recent specialization. That this is probably
true is demonstrated by the fact that although the Chalcidoids are apparently
a plastic group exhibiting very numerous and slightly specialized forms,
phytophagy is not confined to any particular group or groups but occurs
sporadically throughout the whole superfamily. If phytophagy had long
existed it is to be expected that it would have resulted in structural differen-
216 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF vSCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
tiations between the forms so living and those which are parasitic. The most
important indication of the probable recent development of the phyto-
phagic habit, however, is found in the assertion by three different authors
that certain species of Eurytomidae are parasitic in their earlier stages but
finish their development as plant feeders. Such a mode of development would
seem to leave little room for doubt that phytophagy as found at present is
a recent specialization.
Notes and exhibition of specimens
Mr. L. H. Weld told in some detail of the collection of Cynipidae in the
National Museum, its content and present arrangement. He stated that
there are probably more Cynipidae in this museum than in any other insti-
tution.
Mr. S. A. RoHWER discussed the collection for the other groups of the
Hymenoptera. He announced that the collection of bees had recently been
completely rearranged, that the Serphoids were now being assembled and
arranged; that the rearrangement of the sawflies -was completed in 1911 but*
that since then much new material had been received ; that the Chalcidoids
were gradually being put in good order; and that in general the arrangement
of the collection had been greatly improved in the last few years. He added
there is still a very great deal to be done but that he believed the National
Collection of Hymenoptera was probably more extensive than that of any
other institution in the groups usually considered to be of economic impor-
tance. He pointed out that the material in the collection was in a large
measure secured by the cooperation of the economic entomologists of the world
and that because of this it represented much biological material and notes
and that in this feature it was probably more complete than any of the large
collections of other countries.
Mr. E. A. ScHWARZ spoke of four European species of Carabus that had
been introduced into New England along with the Calosoma beetles. One
of these, nemoralis, has now spread as far as New Jersey, while auratus has
bred and spread more sparingly. The other two have apparently failed to
establish themselves.
Dr. A. G. BoviNG stated that the National Museum collection of Coleop-
terous larvae is by far the largest in the world.
R. A. CusHMAN, Recording Secretary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS
For the purpose of encouraging research work on glass the Research Com-
mittee of the Glass Division of the American Ceramic Society has made
arrangements for providing glass of desired composition and desired form for
investigators in this field. The material will be supplied free of charge and
no limitations as to the nature of the research will be imposed. The recipients
of the material will be under no obligations except that of publication of the
results of their investigations. The committee, however, requests that where-
ever possible the Journal of the American Ceramic Society be given preference
in reporting the results. Persons who are interested are requested to address
their inquiries to one of the following members of the Committee on Research :
E. C. Sullivan, Corning Glass Works, Corning, New York ; E. W. Washburn,
University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois; R. B. Sosman, Geophysical Labora-
tory, Washington, D. C.
APR. 19, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 217
The Academy of Science and Arts of Trieste, Italy proposes to issue an
encyclopedia of science and arts, under the editorship of Prof. Giorgio
Giuseppe Ravasini da Buie, of Istria, An advance notice states that the
publication, which will appear in 16-page fascicles, will contain twice as many
articles as the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The Petrologists' Club met on March 14, with the following program:
L. La Forge, Magmatic differentiation as illustrated by the Dedhani granitic
group in eastern Massachusetts; M. N. Bramlette: Review of Gordon's
Desilicated granitic pegmatites; E. S. Larsen, informal communication on
Crystallization and resorption in magmas.
Two small lots of bird skins presented to the National Museum by B. H.
Swales, Honorary Assistant Curator, Division of Birds, contain 8 genera and
many species previously unrepresented in the collection.
The Section of Vertebrate Paleontology of the National Museum has re-
cently acquired portions of the skin, hair, muscular tissue, dried fat and blood
of the Siberian Mammoth, which, with other specimens, now form an exhibit
illustrative of this animal. The specimens are from a carcass that was found
frozen in a cliff along the Beresovka River in northeastern Siberia in 1901,
and was exhumed for the Imperial Academy of Science in Petrograd by a
Russian naturalist, now a refugee in Germany. The patch of skin measuring
one by two feet is from the knee of the right hind leg. It is thickly covered
with a short wooly hair and with bunches of long reddish hair that varies in
length from 4 to 6 inches. A bunch of hair taken from the right shoulder has
a length of more than 30 inches.
The Division of Mollusks of the National Museum has recently received
from Dr. E. M. BluESTone, Assistant Director of the Mount Sinai Hospital,
New York City, a series of 187 slides showing the different species of malarial
parasites. In some instances specimens were taken at stated intervals
between chills, to show the different stages in the development of the Tro-
phozoite in the blood of man.
The grass herbarium has received a package of Brazilian grasses from the
Berlin Herbarium containing a number of duplicate types collected by Sello
and described by Nees von Esenbeck in his account of the grasses of Brazil
published in 1829. A fine set of Argentine grasses has also been received
from Dr. Lorenzo Parodi, of Buenos Aires.
The Section of Photography of the National Museum has recently pur-
chased a set of 75 representative photographs of snow crystals made byW. A.
Bently, of Jericho, Vermont, who has been studying snow crystals for more
than thirty years.
Dr. John Casper Branner, ex-president of Leland Stanford, Jr., Uni-
versity, California, and a non-resident member of the Academy, died on
March 1, 1922.
E. F. BuRCHARD has taken leave for one year from the Geological Survey
and has gone to Argentina for private interests.
Mrs. Agnes Chase of the Bureau of Plant Industry sailed March 11 for
Europe to study the types of grasses in the larger herbaria. She goes first to
Vienna to select a series of duplicates from the herbarium of the well-known
agrostologist, Professor Hackel, and later will visit Florence, Berlin, Geneva,
Paris, Brussels, Leyden, and London. Mrs. Chase expects to return about
the first of July.
Prof. Arnold van Jennep, eminent French anthropologist, was a recent
visitor in the Division of American Archeology'. Professor van Jennep
218 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 8
visited several sites of current investigation during his extensive journeys
throughout the United States and is now on his way back to France.
F. J. Katz, who has been with the Census Bureau for several years, has
returned to the Geological vSurvey and will be assistant chief of the Mineral
Resources Section.
Mr. A. S. Le vSouef, director of the Zoological Gardens at vSydney, Australia,
was a recent visitor at the Zoological Park. Mr. Le Souef took to Europe
from Australia the first shipment of live animals sent abroad by the new
Zoological Control Board of Australia, which now has complete charge of the
exportation of Australian animals.
Dr. WiLiJAM M. Mann, of the Division of Insects, who has been since
last June with the Mulford Biological Exploration in eastern Bolivia and
western Brazil, writes from Riberalta, Bolivia, under date of January 12, that
the expedition will return to the United States early in April. Dr. Rusby,
the director, has recently been compelled to return on account of ill health.
Dr. Mann is now in charge of the party.
Dr. Morton P. Porsild, of the Danish Arctic Station, Disko, Greenland,
recently spent a day or two in study of the Alaskan collections of the National
Herbarium.
T. W. Vaughan has at his request been relieved of administrative duties as
Chief of the Coastal Plain Section in the Geological vSurvey, and h. W.
Stephenson has been assigned these duties. W. P. Woodring has been
appointed Chief of the Section of West Indian geologic surveys in the Coastal
Plain Section.
Dr. Charles W. Waidner, chief physicist of the Bureau of Standards,
died on March 10, 1922 at his home, 1748 Lanier Place, after a long illness.
Dr. Waidner was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 6, 1873. After
graduating at Johns Hopkins University he acted as instructor both there and
at Williams College. He was appointed to the Bureau of Standards in 1901
and made chief physicist in 1921 after the death of Dr. E. B. Rosa. Dr.
Waidner' s name is generally identified with his work on the high temperature
scale, on radiation and on the resistance thermometer. More recently the
other end of the temperature scale had also engaged his attention, to the
advantage of our knowledge of refrigerating processes. During the war he
had charge of the Bureau's work on aviation engines. He was a member
of the Academy and of the Philosophical Society, as well as of many national
and international scientific bodies.
Dr. T. T. Waterman, lately appointed ethnologist of the Bureau of Ameri-
can Ethnology, has left for field-work in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.
He will first proceed to the Kasaan National Monument, Alaska, to study the
architecture, totem poles and other objects at this village and will be ac-
companied by a half-breed Haida, related by marriage to Chief Skoul. It is
expected that considerable legendary data bearing on history and sociology
of the former inhabitants of Kasaan will also be collected. Should the results
justify further work it is planned to continue field-work on place names and
aboriginal village sites of Alaska to be followed later by work on stratigraphic
archeology in more northern latitudes in order to discover if possible traces
of the oldest Indians in this supposed prehistoric gateway of the migration of
man into North America.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 May 4, 1922 No. 9
PETROLOGY, — The development of pressure in magmas as a result
of crystallization ? George W. Morey, Geophysical Laboratory.
The explanation of the phenomena which take place in the cooling
of molten magmas, whether forming intrusive masses or extrusive
flows, is one of the principal functions of petrology. To such magmas
all of the laws of the physical chemistry of mixtures apply, and the
phenomena met with as these mixtures cool and solidify under the
conditions found in nature are the result of the action of these physico-
chemical laws. The elucidation of these phenomena in terms of the
known laws of physical chemistry is made difficult both by the extreme
complexity of the natural mixtures and by the general lack of knowl-
edge as to the theoretical relationships of mixtures containing not only
non-volatile components such as the silicate minerals but also vola-'
tile components far above their critical temperatures, such as carbon
dioxide and water.
In this note attention will be directed to certain relationships be-
tween the temperature and composition and the vapor pressure of the
volatile component, and especially to the relations between these
quantities at temperatures approximating to the temperature of an-
hydrous fusion of the mineral components, and at very considerable
pressure. At temperatures near that at which crystallization begins
a liquid silicate mixture containing but a small amount of volatile
component may exert but a comparatively small vapor pressure, but
as crystallization proceeds with falling temperature the pressure of the
volatile components will increase at a rapid rate : so rapid that a pres-
sure many times the original pressure may result from the crystalliza-
tion of but a small proportion of the non-volatile material. This re-
lation holds true whether the original liquid mixture consists of water
and a low melting salt such as KNO3, or of water and other volatile
substances with the usual non-volatile magmatic constituents; the
• Received March 27, 1922.
219
220 JOURNAI. OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
circumstance that the magmatic liquid is at a temperature far above the
critical temperature of the volatile ingredients is without significance
as long as any of the liquid phase remains in the system. The system
H2O-KNO3 has accordingly been chosen to illustrate the relations be-
tween the variables, pressure, temperature and composition in a sys-
tem containing both volatile and non-volatile components.
In a system such as H2O-KNO3 it is well known that the solubility
or fusion curve is continuous from the eutectic or cryohydrate to the
melting point of each component. This is illustrated in figure 1, C,-
in which E is the eutectic, or cryohydrate, AmE the freezing-point
curve of water in equilibrium with solutions of increasing KNO3 con-
tent, B^jE the freezing-point curve of KNO3 in equilibrium with solu-
tions of increasing H2O content. While with mixtures rich in KNO3
it is necessary to carry out solubility experiments inclosed vessels to
prevent the escape of the water, KNO3 and water are both compon-
ents of all liquids in the binary system. This still holds true when
component B has a melting point above the critical temperature of
water, as is the case in magmatic solutions. The curves showing the
vapor pressure of the saturated solutions given in figure 1 , C are like-
wise continuous from the eutectic to the melting point of components
A and B, respectively, and in the case of the solutions in equilibrium
with the component of higher melting point, KNO3, the curve must
rise to a maximum pressure with increase in temperature, then on
further increase in temperature the pressure must fall to the vapor pres-
sure of the higher melting component at its melting point, or, more
exactly, its triple point. This is shown in figure 1, B, in which the curve
EBn, is the vapor-pressure curve of the solutions saturated with com-
ponent B. As the temperature is increased, the vapor pressure of the
saturated solution is determined by the balance between two opposing
tendencies. One of these is the increase in vapor pressure of the water
with increasing temperature; this is opposed by the decreasing water
content of the solutions, and at the point of maximum pressure the
two effects become equal. At higher temperatures, the second effect
preponderates, and the pressure of the saturated solution decreases with
increasing temperature. The actual ratio of the non-volatile to the
volatile component at the point of maximum pressure is equal to the
- Fig. 1 is drawn to scale for the system H2O-KNO3, but the components H2O and KNO3
are represented by A and B, respectively, for the purpose of clearer discussion of similar
relations in systems containing other components. Experimental details of the study of
this system will be published soon.
MAY 4, 1922 morey: crystallization pressure in magmas
221
a
:tw
/'.^CSSU/^E
/ V y«TMCJPn£MFS
ti
s
—1^
i.?
<>. .'
<^ ^
^^
^t
\
Ni
\
* »-
N.
i. -^
^^^
s
.^
:f^iiiM /<j ^ONit i-'-''^'' -"^c/
Ff!£S^LiRC .■■v AT,:'(rsPH£RCS.
Fig. 1. Diagrams showing the change of the pressure, temperature, and composition of the univariant
equilibria between solid, liquid, and vapor'phases in the binary system H2O-KNO3.
222 JOURNAL OF Tne WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO, 9
ratio of the differential heat of vaporization to the differential heat of
solution, and inasmuch as the former is always several times greater
than the latter, the solution at this point will always contain but
a small percentage of water; this is especially noticeable when com-
position is expressed as weight percentage, because of the low molecu-
lar weight of water. It follows from this fact that the pressure- tem-
perature curve, BBni in figure 1, B, will fall steeply from the point of
maximum pressure to the melting point of the non-volatile component,
in this case KNO3.
In a binary system there are three variables to be considered, pres-
sure, temperature, and composition of the liquid phase in equilibrium
with crystals and vapor. In figure 1, C and B, are shown the relations
between temperature and composition and between temperature and
pressure; the relation between pressure and composition is shown in
figure 1, A. The curve BB^ gives the vapor pressure of solutions of
different composition in equilibrium with KNO3 and vapor; the tem-
perature to which a mixture of any composition must be heated to
melt all but an infinitesimal portion of the crystals can be obtained
from either B or C, figure 1. This cur\^e shows in a striking manner
the rapid increase in pressure consequent on but a small increase in
the water content of the KNO3 rich solutions.
If a mixture of composition y (figure 1, C) be considered at a tem-
perature above that of the corresponding point on the saturation
curve EBnj, its pressure will be represented by a point on the curve
ay (figure 1, B). This curve ay gives the change in vapor pressure
with temperature of the unsaturated solution of the composition y,
and its slope will be large and positive, as shown in the figure. As
the temperature is lowered the presssure will fall along the curve ay
until the latter curve intersects the curve of saturated solutions EBm.
At this point crystallization will begin, and with further decrease of
temperature the pressure will increase along curve BmB in the di-
rection of y". The rapidity of increase in pressure, and the magni-
tude of the pressure ultimately developed, will in general depend on
the solubility of water in the liquid. This effect may be made clearer
by considering the matter from another point of view.
If liquid KNO3 be cooled in an apparatus such that the liquid is
kept in contact with steam at a pressure of one atmosphere, some H2O
will be dissolved, and this dissolved water will lower the freezing
point of the KNO3. If the pressure is kept at one atmosphere about
1 per cent of water will be dissolved, and it will lower the freezing point
MAY 4, 1922 morEy: crystallization pressure in magmas 223
of the KNO3 about 3° C. With the liquid saturated at this tempera-
ture, suppose the apparatus to be closed in such a manner that the
vapor space is very small, and the cooling to be continued, then
crystallization of KNO3 will begin at about 3 ° below its own freezing
point. As the mixture cools, crystallization proceeds, the water con-
tent of the mixture increases, and its vapor pressure rises. Reference
to figure 1, A or B, shows that at the time crystallization begins, the
liquid composition is 99 per cent KNO3, 1 per cent H2O. When the
water content has doubled, the pressure has increased from 1 atmos-
phere to over 6 atmospheres, a six-fold increase. When the water
content has again doubled, reaching 4 per cent, the pressure has risen
to almost 11 atmospheres. If the mixture be contained in a flask
which can withstand a pressure of only 10 atmospheres, the flask will
burst, as the result of the pressure developed by cooling the mixture.
Similar relations hold in silicate systems. It is now a demonstrated
fact that water vapor under a pressure of one atmosphere is appreciably
soluble in liquid silicates at their melting points, and that the amount
of water dissolved at this pressure will produce an appreciable lowering
of the melting point. In other words, the melting point as determined
in steam at one atmosphere pressure is appreciably lower than that
determined in air in the usual manner, just as was the case with KNO3.
In the case of anorthite, about 0.1 per cent of H2O is dissolved, and the
freezing point is lowered about 5°. If the initial pressure of water
vapor is increased, more water will be dissolved and freezing will begin
at a correspondingly lower temperature. In the case of KNO3,
increase in the water content from 1 to 4 per cent corresponded to an
increase of pressure from about 1 to over 11 atmospheres. In the
case of a system such as H20-Si02 the maximum pressure would prob-
ably be reached at a smaller H2O content, and its magnitude would
probably be enormous. Likewise, the pressure which would be de-
veloped by a magma containing but a small amount of H2O, cooled in
such a manner that this water could not escape, as is doubtless often-
times the case, would be very great indeed.
Before considering this phase of the subject further, some known
examples showing the reality of the phenomenon will be given. When
liquid KNO3 is saturated with water at one atmosphere pressure, and
the mixture cooled, at a certain temperature solid KNO3 will begin to
separate from the liquid. If the vessel be open to the air, the pres-
sure cannot rise above one atmosphere, so the water will pass off as
steam ; the liquid will evaporate to dryness, giving rise to solid and
224 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
vapor. Roozeboom gave the name "second boiling point" to this higher
boiling point, which is obtained on cooling as above described. The
second boiling point of a number of salt solutions has been observed
by Smits, and others have been observed by the author. The" spit-
ting" observed when molten silver is cooled in air is another example
of the second boiling point, in this case in the system silver-oxygen,
and a similar "spitting" was observed by Prandtl and Murschauser^
with alkali vanadates. Jackson^ gives an interesting description of a
gas evolution on cooling on a much larger scale, which will be quoted :
"****** For a special optical glass, rich in phosphoric anhydride,
an experiment was tried with ammonium phosphate to find if this
substance could be used in the batch mixture for the glass. A nice,
clear fluid melt was obtained, which was kept fluid for several hours
after all traces of gas bubbles had gone. The melt was well stirred
and cooled till it was quite viscous, when it was left to get cold slowly.
The next morning the furnace top was found forced off, and resting
on a spongy mass of about thirty times the volume of the original
glass melt. The changes occurring when solidification was approach-
ing had evidently been accompanied by the evolution of a large volume
of gas, no doubt most of it ammonia, since this substance was smelt
on grinding the spongy mass up. The ground material was then fused
and gave a stable glass." This is probably to be explained by partial
crystallization of the glass in the pot.
Experimental data exist for but one system which can fairly be taken
as analogous to mineral systems, the system H20-K2Si03-Si02.^ The
cooling of certain mixtures in this system will next be considered.
With some compositions the second boiling point at atmospheric
pressure can be demonstrated in a striking manner. If potassium meta-
silicate at its melting point be saturated with water at one atmosphere
pressure, it takes up about 1 per cent, enough to lower its melting point
about 35°. If the saturated liquid be cooled quickly it becomes
supersaturated; the molten aqueous glass remains liquid until cooled
several degrees below its melting point. First a few bubbles begin to
form within the glass; then suddenly the bubble formation becomes
rapid, the viscous melt swells into a pumiceous mass, increasing in
volume many times, and overflowing the crucible. This is an exam-
ple of the second boiling point at atmospheric pressure; of a boiling,
3 Zeit anorg. Chem. 56: 173-208. 1908.
* Sir Herbert Jackson, Smithsonian Report for 1919, p. 245.
s MoREY AND Fenner. Journ. Am. Chem. Soc. 39: 1173-1229. 1917.
MAY 4, 1922 MOREY : CRYSTALIvIZATlON PRESSURE IN MAGMAS 225
attended by sudden liberation of vapor, taking place as a result of
cooling.
A further example, illustrating, from the experimental results,
the development of a fairly high pressure in a silicate system as the
result of cooling, may be found in the same system. The eutectic
between K2Si205 and vSiOs lies at the remarkably low temperature of
520°. If a mixture of KoO, SiOo and HoO, containing 9.1 per cent of
HoO, with the other ingredients in the molecular ratio Si02/K20 =
4.26, be cooled from a high temperature, the vapor pressure of the mix-
ture ■v\'ill fall as the temperature falls. The mixture will not begin
to freeze until it has cooled to 500°, when crystals of quartz and the
ternary compound KHSi205 will separate. The vapor pressure of the
solution at this temperature is 160 atmospheres. On further cooling,
the substances continue to crystallize and the pressure increases rap-
idly. When the temperature has fallen 20 °, to 480 °, the water content
has increased to 10.2 per cent, and the pressure to 180 atmospheres.
When the temperature has fallen to 420°, the water content has in-
creased to 12.5 per cent, and the pressure to 340 atmospheres, more
than double the pressure at 500°.
In discussing the crystallization of this mixture, it was assumed that
crystallization started at 500°, the saturation temperature of the mix-
ture, and the pressure rose from 160 atmospheres to 340 atmospheres
continuously as the mixture crystallized on cooling. It is of interest to
consider what would happen if the mixture were to cool without crystal -
lizing, say to 420°, and then begin to crystallize. In figure 1, B, the
curve ay, giving the change in pressure with temperature of the mixture
of composition y in figure 1, C, is shown cutting the curve KBm at a
sharp angle; its metas table prolongation, shown broken in the
figure, gives the change in vapor pressure that would take place if the
mixture failed to crystallize. It is safe to assume that this curve has a
steep slope. Similarly, if the mixture in the ternary system were to
supercool, its pressure would diminish rapidly, and the amount of
the diminution can be estimated. The vapor phase consists of water
only at a pressure of 160 atmospheres. Pure water has a vapor pres-
sure of 160 atmospheres at 348°, and it is probable that the two vapor-
pressure curves will be roughly parallel, with the curve of the saturated
solution possibly falling more rapidly than that of pure water. On the
assumption that the drop in pressure for the 80 ° drop in temperature
from 500 to 420 ° in the solution is the same as the drop in pressure of
water from 348° to a temperature 80° lower, the vapor pressure of
226 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
the supercooled liquid at 420° will be 59 atmospheres. If the mix-
ture containing 9.1 per cent water were to cool, without crystallizing,
from 500°, its saturation temperature, to 420°, its pressure would fall
from 160 atmospheres to about 50 atmospheres. If at this lower tem-
perature it should begin to crystallize the pressure would suddenly
rise to that of the solution in equilibrium with quartz and HKSi205 at
420°, or 340 atmospheres.
It is evident, then, that as a magma containing water and other
volatile components cools, with consequent crystallization, the pres-
sure will rapidly rise from its initial value, and as the cooling con-
tinues the pressure will increase until the temperature of maximum
pressure has been reached, or until the pressure is relieved by escape
of the volatile material. In the first case, which is that in which the
liquid cools under a crust of sufficient weight and strength to withstand
the internal pressure, the liquid will solidify as an intrusive mass. In
the case of an actual magma the fact that water has a critical
temperature at 374° C. has no significance, because of the probability
that enough material will remain in solution to raise the critical
temperature of the mixture the requisite amount. The water,
containing in solution residual material such as dissolved gases,
boric acid, sulfur, and probably some alkalies, will be available for
metamorphic processes.
In the second case, that in which the liquid cools under an incom-
petent crust, when the pressure has reached a certain limiting value it
will force open a vent for itself, possibly giving rise to a volcanic
eruption. The phenomenon observed in any particular eruption will
depend, in large part at least, on the magnitude of the pressure and on
the composition of the non-volatile portions of the magma, though these
factors may not be independent. If the vent is a fairly open one,
enormous pressures probably will not be developed and the escape of
the water as steam may be comparatively quiet ; this will presumably
be the more probable in the case of a very fluid lava. The mild
explosive activity of Stromboli and the yet milder bubbling of Kilauea
may be examples of this type. It may well be that in both these cases
the activity is the result of the release of volatile material consequent
on crystallization, and the rate of release of the volatile material may be
regarded as a measure of the rate of crystallization in the parent body.
The difference in violence in the two cases may be determined solely
by the depth at which crystallization is taking place, and by the size
or tortuosity of the channel through which the material must pass.
MAY 4, 1922 MOREY : CRYSTALLIZATION PRESSURE IN MAGMAS 227
On the other hand, conditions may be such that a much greater
pressure must be developed before the gases are able to force their way
to the surface. It may be assumed that eruptions will then take
place at less frequent intervals, since more time must elapse for the
cooling process which occasions the crystallization, and that, on ac-
count of the greater pressure, the resulting eruptions will tend to be
catastrophic. In a previous paragraph it was stated that in the case
of an incompetent crust the building up of pressure as the result of
cooHng and crystallization would continue until the pressure was
relieved by the escape of the volatile material. It might be that, if
the crust were of sufhcient strength, a fairly large proportion of the
liquid magma would crystallize before a pressure had been built up
of sufficient magnitude to cause an eruption. These conditions may
determine the formation of a new volcano, such as Monte Nuovo,
Jorullo, or Chinyero, and may also explain the renewed activity of a
volcano whose vent has been plugged by solidified lava. In such a
case, in which a considerable amount of crystallization has taken place,
the non-crystallized material ejected will represent the "mother
liquor' ' remaining after the segregation of those minerals which are the
first to crystallize under the conditions prevailing. These may be
the femic minerals; in which case the mother liquor will be enriched
in the more salic minerals, quartz and the feldspars, and the water
content will be correspondingly increased.^ The tendency for the
heavier femic minerals to differentiate by settling will be great, es-
pecially since the density difference between the femic and salic
minerals will be increased by the presence in the salic melt of the ac-
cumulated water. We should therefore expect, irrespective of the
original composition of the magma, that paroxysmal eruptions would
be characterized by the ejection of salic lava. The presence or absence
of traces of the differentiated materials will be erratic, depending on the
completeness of the differentiation in relation to the original situation
of the material examined. Moreover, since the salic lavas are in
themselves, when freed from water, viscous even at their melting
points, and since the temperature at this stage will have been greatly
lowered, on the sudden expansion following the disruption of the re-
straining crust, the ejected material will be shattered into small
fragments. It will be seen that the above conclusions are in accord
with the well-known characteristics of catastrophic eruptions; salic
^ N. L. BowEN. The later stages of the evolution of the igneous rocks. Journ. Geol.,
Suppl. to Vol. 23, No. 8. 1915.
228 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
ejecta, highly vesiculated, containing large amounts of glassy material,
ejected by violent explosions following long periods of quiescence.
The well-known cases of Bandai-San, Krakatoa, and Martinique may
be cited as illustrations. Material ejected from Krakatoa "was
so vesicular that it floated in the water, accumulating here and there
in great banks which covered the sea for miles, rising sometimes to a
height of four or five feet above it,"^ and the ejecta still contained
considerable water, as well as much glassy material.
In the above discussion the question of the source of the water has
not been considered. Doubtless the original magmas contain water,
but whether or not this is augmented by accession of meteoric water
is an open question. The often cited proximity of active vol-
canoes to large bodies of water may be regarded as evidence of
the probability of such accession, and in some instances the case for
the absorption of meteoric water is strong, but it may not be true in
the majority of cases. It has been demonstrated by Johnston and
Adams^ that the phenomenon of capillarity does not furnish a mechan-
ism for the introduction of water into magmas, and they have shown
that the often cited Daubree experiment has no bearing on the ques-
tion at issue. As previously stated, crystallization and differentia-
tion will result in the accumulation of water in the residual magma,
and such accumulation probably is competent to explain the produc-
tion of those pitchstones which contain water sometimes up to 10
per cent. Irrespective of the relative importance of original and me-
teoric water, it is believed that the relations which have been outlined
furnish a mechanism by which water can enter a magma. Not only
is it possible for a magma to take up water, but the water ma}' be taken
up by the magma under a small pressure head and later liberated with
the development of high pressure.
It has already been shown that in a crystallizing magma the water
accumulates in the liquid phase. If a magma, either deficient in water
or containing but a small amount of water, and above its crystallizing
temperature, be in contact with porous water-containing strata, it will
absorb water vapor until its water content corresponds to the pre-
vailing temperature of the magma and to the pressure of water vapor.
The portion of such a stratum near the volcanic neck will be at a high
temperature, and the water in this portion will be in the form of steam;
the cooler portions farther removed will contain liquid water, and be-
^ T. G. BONNEY, Volcanoes, p. 24. The Science Series. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1899.
* J. Johnston and L. H. Adams. Journ. Geol. 22: 1-15. 1914.
MAY 4, 1922 MOREY: CRYSTALLIZATION PRESSURE IN MAGMAS 229
tween will be a surface at which the water is boiling. The location
of this zone of boiling will be determined by the hydrostatic head of
the water; if the head is about 3000 feet, the hydrostatic head will be
about 100 atmospheres, and the zone of boiling will be removed to
a region in which the temperature is about 310°.
When the magma crystallizes, the water dissolved in it at a pressure of
100 atmospheres will be concentrated, and the pressure may increase
to a high value, as previously explained. If eruption, with release of
pressure, takes place, we have the water, absorbed under a pressure of
100 atmospheres, being released under a pressure many times 100
atmospheres. The crystallization may take place at some distance
from the point of entry of the water, under conditions such that the
back pressure developed by the crystallizing liquid does not reach the
porous strata which were the source of the water, or the suddenness
with which the pressure is developed may be such that the tortuous
channels in the porous strata offer a greater resistance to its release
than does the overlying crust or lava column. It is highly probable
that if such lava were to be forced into the water-saturated porous
•strata it would effectually seal itself by rapid cooling in the pore spaces.
The solubility of water in a silicate melt at a given pressure of water
vapor will depend largely on the temperature, and it is to be ex-
pected that the solubility will increase with decreasing temperature,
for the same reasons that gases are more soluble in cold water than
in hot water. If an undercooled silicate mixture, that is, a mixture
which had remained liquid altho it had cooled below the temperature
at which crystallization should have taken place, were to come into
contact with water vapor, say at a pressure of water vapor of 100
atmospheres as before, it would probably take up a much larger
quantity of water than at a high temperature. Reference to the curve
■ay in figure 1, C will illustrate this point.
When the mixture of composition y is cooled, at Ty its vapor pres-
sure is 5.1 atmospheres; if it be undercooled to Ty', its vapor pressure
will fall to 4 atmospheres. If a mixture richer in water is under-
cooled, its pressure will fall to 4 atmospheres at a lower temperature,
Ty". vSimilarly, the pressure of 4 atmospheres will correspond to
progressively lower temperature for mixtures of increasingly greater
water content. If, now, liquid KNO3 be undercooled to Ty", under
a water- vapor pressure of 4 atmospheres it will dissolve not the amount
of water it would have dissolved at its saturation temperature Ty, but
the larger amount corresponding to the mixture whose melting point
230 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 5
is Ty". If crystallization be now induced, there will be a sudden de-
velopment of a pressure, corresponding to the saturation pressure at
Ty"; the water introduced into the melt at a pressure head of 4 at-
mospheres will be released at a much higher pressure, in this case
about 11 atmospheres. If an undercooled magma were to come into
contact with percolating waters, or the vapor generated therefrom, as
previously explained, a similar introduction of water at a low pres-
sure might take place. Introduction of this water might of itself
induce crystallization in virtue of the lowered viscosity of the resulting
magmatic solution, and it is conceivable that the result would be a sud-
den and violent outburst of steam and ash, at a comparatively low
temperature.
SUMMARY
It has been shown that when a system composed of volatile and
non-volatile components such as water and KNO3 is cooled, crystal-
lization will take place at a temperature lower than the freezing point
of the pure non-volatile salt by an amount corresponding to the amount
of volatile material present, and that the corresponding three-phase
pressure increases rapidly as the temperature is lowered from the
melting point of the salt. This increase is rapid whether measured
in terms of the decrease in temperature of the three-phase equilibrium
or in terms of the content of volatile material in the solution. From
the latter fact it follows that in systems of the type of magmas, in
which the non-volatile material is composed of such substances as the
silicates, and in which the pressure required to retain any considerable
proportion of water in solution must be large, a comparatively small
amount of crystallization will result in a large increase in pressure.
When a magma containing water cools, with consequent crystalliza-
tion and development of high pressure, under an incompetent crust,
a release of pressure will take place, which may be catastrophic in
violence or take the form of a succession of mildly explosive outbursts.
In case the magma cools under a competent crust the pressure will
rise to a maximum, and then decrease, probably without at any time
showing critical phenomena.
MAY 4, 1922 proceedings: BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY 231
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY!
622nd meeting
The 622nd meeting was held in the lecture hall of the Cosmos Club, on
March 5, 1921 at 8 p.m. Vice President A. S. Hitchcock presided, and 32"
persons were present. Upon recommendation of [the Council Mr. M. A.
Murray was elected to membership.
Brief notes
Mr. IvAR TiDESTROM exhibited two books. One was 202 years old, had
seen constant usage, and was still in excellent condition; the second book,
somewhat more than a year old, was in poor condition, both as to binding and
the printed pages. The first book illustrated the durability of rag paper as
compared with the pulp paper now commonly used even in reference works.
Dr. Paul Bartsch cited the deterioration of a book lying exposed from Sat-
urday to Monday.
Dr. H. C. Oberholser stated that the whistling swan, which had returned
to nearby waters for four or five years past, after an absence of twenty years,
were seen this last winter in increasing numbers. Dr. Paul Bartsch stated
that Holboell's Grebe had been observed recently in the Tidal Basin; also
that nineteen species of spring flowers had been reported at a recent meeting
of the Wild Flower Preservation Society.
Formal program
H. M. Hall: The synthetic method of botanical taxonomy.
Botanical taxonomy has not much to its credit in the way of past achieve-
ments. At present it is at a nearh^ static or stationary stage in its evolution.
In order to make it dynamic and progressive more attention should be paid to
three phases of the subject.
(1) The development of a philosophic aspect. Relationships of phylogeny
should be taken as the guiding principle in all taxonomic work. Analytical
methods now employed should be combined with synthetic methods having
as their aim the organization of these small units into larger natural assem-
blages, the data for such work to be obtained from comparative morphology,
paleontology, ontogeny, and geographic distribution.
(2) The development of new methods. The present observational de-
scriptive, and qualitative methods may well be replaced by methods that
are experimental, quantitative and exact, thus elevating systematic botany
to the stage of a true science.
(3) The development of a new method for the expression of results in a
concise and readily intelligible manner. The use of diagrams to illustrate
phylogeny is advised. More important is the development of a system of
nomenclature that will express both the names of plants and their relation-
ships. It is therefore recommended that the term "species" be used in the
original comprehensive sense, that onl)^ these inclusive units or true species,
' Reports for the 627th and 628th meetings were pubUshedinthis Journai<12: 188-191..
1922.
"232 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
be given binomials, that the principal subdivisions be treated as subspecies
or varieties, and that still smaller units, such as those of the geneticist or other
specialist, be treated in any other manner that meets the special requirements.
In this way the number of species will be kept within reasonable bounds,
the varietal category will provide for those who desire to go one step farther,
and the recognition of even the smallest possible unit will not be excluded.
The paper was illustrated by lantern slides of plants, and tables showing
the application of the suggestions which were made. The paper was discussed
by Major K. A. Goldman and Drs. P. Bartsch, T. vS. Palmer, F. W.
CoviLLE, and W. E. S afford.
623rd meeting
The 623rd meeting was held March 19, 1921 at 8:10 p.m., in the lecture
hall of the Cosmos Club. President Hollister was in the chair and 50
persons were present.
Informal communication
Dr. F. H. KnowlTON stated that during the last ten years, for three of the
spring months, continuously during the daylight hours a cardinal would
fight his reflection in the windows of the speaker's house. The bird has been
known to launch himself at the windows 26 times in five minutes. It is not
known that it is the same bird which has been under observation during these
years.
Formal program
F. H. Knowlton: The flora of some newly discovered beds in southern
Colorado.
For fifty years highly fossiliferous deposits have been known in the Tertiary
lake beds of Florissant, Colorado. Insects, plants, and birds, fish and shells
are preserved with remarkable fidelity in the volcanic ashes and mud filling
the lake. Other similar deposits have been found in Colorado, the largest
near Creede. Among the plants found are pines, firs, grape, currant, poplars,
flowers and fruit believed to be a raspberry, etc. Specimens were shown
in the thin papery shales into which the rock breaks up. The paper was
discussed by Messrs. Rohwer, Hopkins, and Hitchcock.
H. C. Oberholser: The breeding water fowl of the Great Plains region.
For several j^ears the breeding grounds of water fowl in the United vStates
were studied by the Biological Survey to secure data for the administration
of game protection laws. The greatest breeding ground in the United vStates
is in the State of Nebraska and the States northerly from it. Still greater
areas exist in Canada. For many years the water fowl suffered from the
draining of their feeding and breeding grounds, and by killing for sport and
the market. Tens of millions of birds were sacrificed annually. Dr.
Oberholser described and illustrated with lantern slides many of the lakes of
the region used as breeding grounds of water fowl, and nests and birds were
shown of several of the species. The paper was discussed by Dr. vShufeldt.
624:TH meeting
The 624th meeting was held jointly with the Washington Academy op
Sciences on April 2, 1921, in the lecture hall of the Cosmos Club, at 8:15 p.m.
Alfred H. Brooks, President of the Academy presided, and 75 persons
ivere present.
MAY 4, 1922 proceedings: bioi^ogicai^ society 233
Dr. A. D. Hopkins, Retiring President of the Biological Society, delivered
an address on Intercontinental problems in natural and artificial distribution of
plants. An extended abstract of Dr. Hopkin's paper has been published in
the Journal of the Academy.^
A. A. D001.1TTLE, Recording Secretary.
625th meeting
The 625th meeting of the Biological Society of Washington was held on
April 16, 1921 in the lecture hall of the Cosmos Club, at 8:15 p.m. President
HoLLiSTER was in the chair and 66 persons were present.
Informal communications
H. C. Oberholser: a note on Miss M. T. Cooke's Birds of the Washington
Region, published by the Society.
Formal program
F. C. Lincoln: The Fall migration of ducks from Lake Scugog, Ontario.
Interesting results have been obtained from the work on the Bureau of
Biological Survey in banding wild ducks trapped at Lake Scugog, Ontario.
Last summer about 225 ducks were banded, mostly mallards and black ducks,
with a few blue-winged teal and ringnecks. The Biological Survey has already
received reports of the killing of over 35 of these ducks or about 16 per cent.
Some were killed close to Lake Scugog, but others were from such distances
as to clearly indicate the route these birds travel on their pilgrimage to the
Gulf Coast. In the Mississippi Valley bands were returned from points in
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and
Texas. On the Atlantic coast no birds were reported from regions north of
Chesapeake Bay, but south of this point the route is well connected, showing
that these birds migrate in a southeasterly direction across the Alleghanies
to the Atlantic coast.
Bands have been returned from Virginia, North and South Carolina, and
Florida. The most interesting note was received through the State Depart-
ment from the American consul on the island of Trinidad. The band had
been placed on a blue-winged teal at Lake Scugog on September 24, 1920, and
was recovered through a local hunter near Port of Spain, Trinidad, on
December 9. (Author's abstract.)
The paper was discussed by Dr. A. S. Hitchcock.
E. W. Nelson: Alaska and the reindeer industry.
Thos. E. Snyder, Recording Secretary pro tem.
626th meeting
The 626th regular meeting was held April 30, 1921, in the lecture hall of the
Cosmos Club, at 8:15 p.m. President HoLLiSTER was in the chair and 51
persons were present.
Informal communications
M. W. Lyon: Note on buffalo or bison raising. This note was illustrated
with a lantern slide of a carcass of a pure bison calf exhibited in front of a
restaurant in South Bend, Indiana.
T. S. Palmer : Note on the status of bison in the United States. One large
herd which was becoming unprofitable was disposed of by letting sportsmen
shoot the animals at $250 per head. There are a thousand head on the market
1 This Journal 11: 223-227, 227-229. May 19, 1921.
234 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
in South Dakota. In New Hampshire they are occasionally on sale. There
are two herds in Oklahoma with occasional sales. There were 8000 bison in
the United States last year.
Dr. R. E. CoKER exhibited copies of the new Journal of Ecology, which is
a continuation of Plant World, but whose scope is to include both plants and
animals.
Dr. Paul Bartsch referred to the column in the Washington Herald en-
titled Scientific Notes and Comments. A motion approving the column was
carried.
Dr. C. C. Adams, Director of the Roosevelt Wild lyife Experiment Station,
spoke of the inception of the movement to perpetuate the memory of Theodore
Roosevelt. The station established is a research station.
Formal program
J. N. Rose: Rediscovery of a remarkable cactus from Haiti. For more than
3. century a cactus growing in Haiti has been known only from a drawing in the
British Museum over the title Cactus caniculatus. No additional information
was obtained until 1917 when a specimen was brought to this country by Dr.
Paul Bartsch. Later Dr. C. G. Abbot visited the region, and made com-
plete field observations and collections, so that the plant is now pretty well
known. A monograph of the species had been prepared in which the species
is redescribed as Neoabbotia caniculatus. Some remarkable features are that
it is the largest known cactus and its blossoms are in clusters. Photographs
of the plant were exhibited. The paper was discussed by Dr. Lyon and Dr.
Bartsch.
Joseph Grinnell: The principle of rapid peering birds. Some birds
wait for their prey to come within striking distance, others are on the con-
stant search. The movement of an object quickly catches the attention of
an observer. Similarly an observer changing his position brings out rela-
tive position, perspective, and recognition of objects. Thus some birds,
pressed by necessity, have developed in the extreme the habit of rapidly
changing position, peering in many directions, to secure food required for
■existence.
The paper was discussed by Drs. Lyon and Bartsch.
T. S. Palmer: Notes on some parrots imported into the United States. Of
the 500 or more species of parrots now known, only 2 are natives of the United
States and none of Europe. Thus they were practically unknown to the
ancients. The knowledge of parrots is, therefore, an index to exploring ac-
tivity. Columbus took the first American parrot to Spain in 1493. The
first importation was at an early, though unknown date. Since then the
United States has become one of the best parrot markets. The zoological
parks contain the best collections; and have rare and some now extinct par-
rots on exhibition. The national Zoological Park has about 35 species. At
times 75 or 80 species have been on exhibit at one time in New York and
Philadelphia. The London Zoological Gardens have about 125 species.
The parrots imported in largest numbers are: the Amazons; certain spe-
cies from Mexico and from Cuba; the Grass Parrakeet from Australia;
and the Gray Parrot from Africa. The Amazons and the Gray Parrots are
popular on account of their ability to talk. In 1904 more than 17,000 parrots
were imported. This year more than 4,000 have already (April) reached
San Francisco.
MAY 4, 1922 proceedings: BOTANICAL SOCIETY 235
Few parrots are raised in this country though in Europe they are quite
freely raised in captivity. The habits of parrots, and even their anatomy, are
still not well known. Probably a dozen West Indian parrots have become
extinct, and our Carolinian Parrakeet is confined to Florida and is almost
•extinct. The desirability of immediate further study is obvious.
E. A. Goldman: Rats in the War Zone. Rats infested the whole war
area, and their relation to epidemic diseases was early recognized. The
speaker was commissioned as an officer to study and solve the problems pre-
sented by rats. Their holes, burrows, and paths were everywhere. German
trenches were infested and many rat-catching devices were found in them.
Rats were troublesome in disturbing sleeping soldiers, destroying suppHes,
eating and spoiling food, and as potential carriers and disseminators of dis-
ease.
Food was arriving in greater quantities that it could be cared for. Under
the boards or litter upon which the cases of food were stacked, rats found
shelter and opportunity to breed. Trapping was the chief means for con-
trol, but poisoning with squills was also effective. In food warehouses and
trenches the control was reasonably adequate.
Rats bred rapidly. Females averaged 7.3 embryos. The number was as
few as 3 and as great as 17. The principal species was the brown rat. Black
rats were sometimes found where there were few brown rats to contend with.
After the trenches were evacuated, foxes, weasels, cats and other predatory
animals did much to eliminate rats, but many followed the men.
Many lantern slides were shown depicting the conditions which favored
rats, their work, the methods of trapping, and some of the means of insulating
.against rats, both in the Allied and German lines.
A. A. DooLiTTLE, Recording Secretary.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY
153rd meeting
The 1 53rd meeting was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club at
8 p.m., October 4, 1921, with President Chambliss in the chair and 106
persons present.
A. T. Bruman and Frank G. O'Donnell of the Federal Horticultural
Board and Robert C. Wright of the Office of Horticulture and Pomology
were elected members of the Society.
An exhibit of dahlias was furnished by Mrs. WoLF, Dr. W. A. Orton,
Prof. J. B. S. Norton, Dr. Wm. E. Safford and Miss Florence Thompson.
The regular program of the evening, consisting of a symposium on the dahlia,
followed.
W. A. Orton : Group classification, climatic requirements and aims of dahlia
breeders.
The dahlia has been wonderfully improved by plant breeders until its
range of form suggests the anemone, the water lily, the peony, the rose, and
the chrysanthemum, as well as the types familiar to the public as dahlias.
Of the distinct groups of dahlias, the oldest is the Show. Then there are
the]Hybrid Show, Pompon, Fancy, Cactus, Hybrid Cactus, Decorative, Peony
Duplex, Single, Collarette, Anemone, Star and Miniature Cactus.
The dahlia, a native of the tropics, can not withstand our northern winters.
The roots must therefore be lifted and stored in sand in a cool cellar.
236 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
Those who are working for the further improvement of the Dahlia have
still a large field of effort. In all cases, and particularly in the Cactus types,
there is need for stronger, more upright stems, for greater freedom of flowering,
and quality of producing strong, hardy roots. Some of the best varieties are
such poor propagators that they always remain scarce and expensive.
J. B, S. Norton: History of the dahlia varieties.
A tabulation of over 100 dahlia catalogues of 1921 shows about 5000 va-
rieties now on the market. Nearly 5000 other named varieties grown in
years past have now disappeared from cultivation. All these have developed
in the gardens of Europe and America since the wild single dahlia was in-
troduced from Mexico into European gardens a little over a hundred years ago.
The old-fashioned ball-shaped, regular forms, or show dahlias, were the
first double kinds developed and had their day in the great dahlia shows of the
second quarter of the nineteenth century. The minature ball forms, or
pompons came in in the fifties. Some of them are probably the oldest va-
rieties now in our gardens. The advent of the cactus dahlia type in 1873
led, through hybridization with the earlier kinds, to the many kinds of cactus,
decorative and peony flowered dahlias which grace our gardens at the present
time. The show dahlias, so desirable in the formal days of 1830 to 1850,
have now almost disappeared from prize collections. Even the graceful
cactus varieties which were the fashion at the beginning of the twentieth
century are now far out-numbered by the great gloriously colored decora-
tives and hybrid cactus kinds which are now being produced more than any
other types, especially in America.
W. E. Safford: Botany and chemistry of the dahlia (illustrated).
In tracing the origin of the cultivated plants, it has been the custom to
go back to the very earliest descriptions, noting the dates when they were writ-
ten as well as those of their publication. Among early writers the rules of
nomenclature now followed by botanists were not always observed. It
was not uncommon for a botanist to ignore a well-established generic or spe-
cific name and substitute another more in accord with his own taste. Thus
in 1809 Willdenow attempted to substitute Georgina for the generic name
Dahlia established by the Spanish botanist Cavanilles in 1791 in honor of
Andreas Dahl, a distinguished Swedish horticulturist, and finding the seed-
lings of the type of the genus to be exceeding^ variable, he also changed
its specific name, pinnata to variabilis. The variability points to a mixed
ancestry, and it is quite possible that Cavanilles' type plant was a hybrid
between two species or two distinct varieties or subspecies.
About the year 1576, more than two hundred years before the genus Dahlia
was established by Cavanilles, Francisco Hernandez, a Spanish physician,
sent by Philip II to New Spain to study its resources, observed many forms of
Dahlias then cultivated in Mexico. It is interesting to note that at that early
date types which are usually held to be modern creations, had already been
developed. Dahlias were known to the Aztecs under the Nahuatl name
Acocoxochitl, which may be translated "Cane-flower." This name was
applied to them on account of their hollow, jointed stems, which bear a
certain resemblance to the canes used as water pipes or tubes. Hernandez
in calling attention to their beautiful and varied flowers, described certain
forms with purple rays and yellow disks, and many others differing from one
another in size and color; some white, others yellow, others red or purple,
or white tinged with purple, or perhaps yellow tinged with red, and a great
MAY 4, 1922 proceedings: botanical society 237
many other kinds; in some cases with double or multiple whorls of ray-
flowers about the disk, or with the florets closely crowded into compact
pompons or bunches (Manipuli). The roots he described as fleshy and
succulent, and clustered like those of the classic asphodel. This description,
although written about 1576, was first published in the Madrid edition of
his works in 1750. In the Roman edition of 1790, however, are figured three
forms of Dahlia, all of them with multiple florets suggesting forms now called
the peony type, but differing in their foliage, the first two having leaves
like those commonlv called Dahlia variabilis, the last with divided leaves
like those of Dahlia glahraia, or D. gracilis.
Four years later in addition to Dahlia pinnata, Cavanilles described and
figured two other species. Dahlia coccinea and Dahlia rosea, "single flowered"
forms differing from each other not only in color but also in the form and
texture of the leaves. Some writers declare that these were merely two va-
rieties of the same species, while others deny the possibility of this, declaring
that D. coccinea and D. rosea cannot even be cross-pollinated to form hybrids.
The great revolution in Dahlia culture which led to the creation of the
beautiful forms of today was brought about by the importation of Dahlia
juarezii into Europe about the year 1864, a type of which is here presented,
accompanied by a photograph of the well-known "Kalif" of our gardens,
which seems to be a facsimile of it. Dahlia juarezii is the ancestor of all our
cactus dahlias. It is interesting to note that the type of this species like
that of Dahlia pinnata, was a "double form" and in all probability a hybrid.
Recently, Mr. Wilson Popenoe, an explorer for the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, came upon a single red Dahlia in the mountains of
Guatemala with narrow rays reflexed or folded backward as in Dahlia juarezii
and its descendents. This species, which I named Dahlia popenovii in honor
of its collector, is in all probability the ancestor which gave to Dahlia juarezii
and to all the cactus dahlias their tendency to fold back the margins of their
florets.
On the same slide is shown Dahlia maxonii, another species from Guatemala,
collected by Mr. William R. Maxon in the Department of Alta Verapaz in
1905. The latter species was for a time confused with Dahlia imperialis,
from which it differs radically in its upright instead of pendent flowers, as
well as in the form of its leaves. It is in all probability an ancestor of the hy-
brid Dahlia excelsa, the type of which was a cultivated plant with abnormally
elongated disk-flowers resembling the so-called anemone-flowered types of
our gardens.
Concerning the roots of the Dahlia, these were compared by early writers
with those of the asphodel, which were also fleshy and grew in clusters. At-
tempts have been made to use the roots for food for cattle and pigs, but on
account of the unpleasant taste they have been rejected. Instead of starch
the roots contain a substance known chemically as inulin. From this a
sugar known as levulose or fructose is obtained. This sugar is sixty per cent
sweeter than cane sugar, but it has hitherto commanded such very high prices
that it has not been of commerical importance. It crystallizes with great
difficulty, and the expense has been chiefly due to the fact that it was neces-
sary to use much alcohol in eliminating the water. Although this sugar
crystallizes with difficulty, yet it can be utilized even in the form of syrup,
especially at soda fountains, and as an ingredient for various drinks and des-
serts.
238 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 9
The Regular Meeting then adjourned and the Annual Meeting was held.
Dr. W. E. Safford was elected President, Dr. Homer D. Shantz was elected
Vice-President, Mr'. Roy G. Pierce was re-elected Recording Secretary,
Mr. R. K. Beattie was re-elected Corresponding Secretary, and Dr. h. L.
HarTER was re-elected Treasurer.
154th meeting
The 154th meeting was held in the Assembly Hall of the Cosmos Club at
8 p.m., November 1, 1921, with President Safford in the chair, and 68 mem-
bers and guests present. Among the distinguished guests were Professor
Arthur A. Jaczewski, Director of the Institute of Mycology and Plant
Pathology of Petrograd, and Prof. Nicholas I. Vavilov, Director of the
Institute of Bureau of Applied Botany and Plant Breeding at Petrograd.
Mr. James R. Weir, whose name was presented at the October meeting,
was voted into the Society.
Under Brief notes and review of literature, Mr. C. P. Hartley presented
an exhibit of several interesting ears of corn, two with long silks retained and
one a nubbin. One was peculiar in that the fine silk retained was attached to
the kernels ; the second showed that the first silks that protrude do not come
from the extreme butt kernels, but from those slightly above the base of the
stalk, differing from the popular conception ; the third showed that the seed
coat can develop without any starch or germ.
O. M. Freeman, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, exhibited two potted
hepaticas, one in blossom, and the other without blossoms. The plant in
blossom has been subjected to an artificial winter. In the experiment 6
pots had been used — 3 had been chilled for 2 months, while the others had
been kept at ordinary room temperature. Two weeks after being chilled
they came into blossom. Prof. Arthur A. Jaczewski of Petrograd remarked
that this chilling of plants to induce flowering was formerly a regular practice in
Russia and that lilacs were brought out in blossom at Easter time.
The regular program of the evening consisted of an illustrated lecture by
Mr. Robert S. Yard, Executive Secretary of the National Parks Associa-
tion. A wonderful collection of colored views of some of our National Parks
was shown, including some from the Yellowstone Glacier, Mount Rainier,
Crater I^ake, Yosemite, Sequoia and Rock Mountain National Parks. Of the
19 national parks all but 2 are in the United States. These include Mt.
M cKinley in Alaska and a volcano in H awaii . Water power and irrigation inter-
ests were trying to encroach upon the public domain and to secure special
privileges in the National Parks. The National Park Association was trying
to crystallize public sentiment against the exploitation of these Parks.
Roy G. Pierce, Recording Secretary-
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 May 19, 1922 No. 10
MINERALOGY. — Notes op. white chlorites^ Earl V. Shannon and
Edgar T. Wherry, U. S. National Museum.
Although the name chlorite comes from the Greek word for green,
various other colors are represented among this group of minerals, in-
cluding violet-red in kaemmererite, and white in leuchtenbergite and
other sub-species or varieties. The mineral colerainite, described in
1918 by Poitevin and Graham,- is in our opinion a white chlorite,
since its composition, crystal form, optical properties, and physical
properties are all similar in many respects to those of typical members
of the clinochlore group. It seemed of interest to ascertain whether
the material reported as colerainite from Brinton's Quarry, Chester
County, Pennsylvania, by Mr. Samuel G. Gordon'^ could also be so
classified, and Mr. Gordon kindly sent the Museum samples for exami-
nation and analysis. Sample 1 is composed of 3 to 5 mm. barrel
shaped crystals, bounded by greatl}^ rounded first and second order
pyramids and prisms, with large basal planes. These are not solid,
but have a dull white crust with loosely packed flaky material with
pearly luster within. Under the microscope the material is fairly
homogeneous, although some dull, opaque patches are present min-
gled with the transparent flakes. Specimen 2 is from a new locality
discovered by Mr. Gordon, namely a small abandoned feldspar quarry
about 2 miles southwest of Nottingham, Chester County, Pa. This
is in more micaceous-looking and apparently less altered crystals of
similar shape and size. Under the microscope its homogeneity is satis-
factory. Similar material occurs also in feldspar quarries near S3dmar,
Pa., but it is too altered for analysis; its crystallography is described
below.
' Presented at the meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America, Dec. 29, 1921.
Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Received
December 31, 1921.
2 Canada Dept. Mines, Museum Bull. 27: 66-73. 1918.
3Amer. Min. 5: 195. 1920.
239
240 JOURNAL OF TH]e WASHINGTON ACADEMY OP SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
Another white chlorite of related composition is sheridanite, de-
scribed from northern Wyoming by J. B. Wolff in 1912.^ This differs-
considerably in properties, however, being a translucent greenish
gray schistose rock. A specimen of schistose rock from Miles City,
Montana, has recently been sent in to the U. S. Geological Survey for
identification, and Dr. E. S. Larsen has found it to agree optically
with sheridanite. This has also been analyzed, and found to have
the same composition as the original sheridanite, so is here reported as a
new occurrence of this mineral. In the analyses extreme care was
taken to separate the aluminium from the magnesium, the aluminium
hydroxide being reprecipitated several times. The results of the new
analyses, with older ones for comparison, are presented in table 1.
TABLE 1. — Analyses of White Chlorites. The Asterisks Indicate New Analyses
AND Optical Data. The Numbers in Parentheses after
Analytical Data Are Ratios
1* 2* 3 4* 5 6
SiOo 28.10(2) 36.70(6) 28.81(2) 27.78(2) 26.98(3) 24.40(2)
AI2O3 26.20(1) 10.38(1) 26.43(1) 24.30(1) 16.10(1) 22.77(1)
FezOs 1.66 1.22 0.24 1.43 0.22 0.45
FeO none trace 0 . 40 0.35 none none
CaO trace 0 . 86 none trace 0.12 0 . 10
MnO trace trace none none 0 . 20 0 . 09
MGO 30.36(3) 36.44(9) 31.21(3) 32.71(3) 36.56(6) 32.70(4)
^■O^ If, ■■■ \ 0.28 0.30
NaoO ... ... 0.14 ... I
HoO- 0.56 1.06 0.09 0.06 |
\ 19.91(7) 19.63(5)
H2O+ 14.00(3) 13.80(7) 12.62(3) 13.01(3) J
Totals 100.88 100.46 100.29 99.64 100.37 100.44
Opt. data * * ... * *
a 1 . 562 1 . 555 1 . 580 1 . ,576 1 . 570
|8 1.562 1.560 1.581 1.576 1.570 1.570
7 1 . 576 1 . 560 1 . 589 1 . 589 1 . 575 . . . ■
Sign +_ + + + +
2E 0° 30° 35° small 0° 0°
1. White chlorite from Brinton's Quarry, Pa. Analysis by Shannon; optical data de-
termined on an exceptionally clean cut crystal and kindly furnished by Mr. Gordon.
2. White chlorite from Nottingham, Pa. Analysis by Shannon ; optical data by Wherry.
3. Sheridanite, northern Wyoming. Analysis by Wolff, optical data by H. E- Merwin.
4. New occurrence of sheridanite (Wyoming?). Analysis by Shannon; optical data by
Larsen.
5. Colerainite matrix, Quebec. Analysis by Connor quoted by Poitevin and Graham,
loc. cit. Optical data by Wherry on specimen kindly furnished by Prof. T. L. Walker.
6. Colerainite crystals, Quebec. Analysis by Connor; optical data by Poitevin and
Graham.
^ Amer. Jour. vSci. IV. 34: 475-476. 1912.
MAY 19, 1922 SHANNON AND WHERRY: WHITE CHLORlTES 241
As to occurrence and origin, the Pennsylvania specimens are reported
by Mr. Gordon to have been formed by the action on albite-pegma-
tite of magnesium-bearing waters derived from the weathering of
serpentine and jefferisite.^ The original colerainite had a similar ori-
gin/' The sheridanite occurs in granitic rocks, and may have also arisen
through alteration of feldspar, but details of its occurrence are not
known.
Both Pennsylvania minerals are rather different from colerainite in
composition, but the first one agrees closely with sheridanite in this
respect, although entirely different from it in physical properties. It
is not possible at present to interpret the analyses of any of these in
terms of end-minerals, so it seems best to class them all simply as
white chlorites.
A crystallographic confirmation of the identity of these minerals
seemed desirable, but the Brinton's Quarry and Nottingham material
proved to be too dull on the surface to give definite results. Optical
examination of the so-called secondary albite from Sylmar, Pa.'^
showed, however, that it is of similar character although too exten-
sively altered to kaolinite to be suitable for analysis. It occurs in
rosettes of subparallel crystal plates on compact albite rock, averaging
5 b}^ 1 mm. in size, with perfect basal cleavage on which the luster is
bronzy. These were found to give hazy light nodes as a number of
places in each zone of faces, yielding the results shown in table 2.
TABLE 2.— Angles of White Chlorite from Sylmar, Pa.
Crystallization perihexagonal ; c = 3.3890 ± .0050
No.
Let-
Syi
nbols
ter
Gdt.Brav.
Mono
1
C
0
0001
_
001
010
2
b
ooO
1010 <
-
no
112
3
m
10
1011 <
[Oil
4
t
VsO
4043
043
5
0
20
2021
- 1
111
132
6
V
1
1121 <
loi
7
s
H
1122
134
Description
Observed
Calculated
<P
p
<P
p
Dominant form
0°
0°00'
Narrow to fairly broad
0°
89-90°
0°00'
90°00'
Narrow but distinct
0°
66-67°
0°00'
66°07'
Narrow but distinct
0°
70-71°
0°00'
71 "38'
Narrow to fairly broad
0°
77-78°
0°00'
77°32'
Rather large
30°
75-76°
30°00'
75°40'
Narrow and poor
30°
63-64°
30°00'
62°56'
The identification of the material as a white chlorite is thus complete.
5 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1921 ': 169-192. 1921.
« Trans. Royal Soc. Canada III, 12: 37-39. 1918.
' Amer. Min. 3: 47. 1918.
242 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
MINERALOGY. — Crocidolite from eastern Pennsylvania} Edgar
T. Wherry and Earl V. Shannon, U. S. National Museum.
The occurrence of a glaucamphibole in the Highland belt of pre-
Cambrian rocks of eastern Pennsylvania was noted by D'Invilliers
in 1883.- He classed the mineral as an amphibole on the basis of a
"rough analysis" by State Chemist McCreath made on "a portion of
the mass more or less mixed with feldspar" which yielded, when the
meaningless decimals are omitted: Si02 51.7, AI2O3 17.5, "FeO"
(probably at least half FcaOs) 9.2, MgO 8.8, CaO 5.1, and "undeter-
mined" (no doubt NaoO + HoO) 7.7%. This corresponds more or
less to a mixture of labradorite with a high magnesium glaucamphibole.
In the absence of optical data, however, the exact identity of the latter
could not be established.
Another occurrence of the mineral in the pre-Cambrian was studied
by Mrs. Eleonora Bliss Knopf in 1913.^ She classed the mineral
as glaucophane on the basis of an analysis by Dr. Edwin DeBarr, but
judging from the silica percentage of 83.3, this was made on a sample
containing a large amount of quartz in addition to feldspar, and is
accordingly unsuitable for establishing the exact nature of the min-
eral. Mrs. Knopf obtained in addition some optical measurements
agreeing with those recorded for the glaucamphibole group, but not
characteristic of any individual member: extinction angle X/c = 3°
to 15°, and pleochroism Z blue to violet, Y pale green, and X colorless
to pale yellow.
While the senior writer was connected with Lehigh University,
Bethlehem, Pa., he observed glaucamphiboles at many localities in the
region, in both pre-Cambrian and Triassic rocks. On removal to
Washington, he presented a number of specimens to the National
Museum, and made a study of their optical properties, by the immer-
sion method. Much of the material proved to be cryptocrystalline,
with n = about 1.66 and intense blue color. At some localities,
however, microscopically fibrous to bladed material occurs, and this
gave alpha = 1.64 to 1.65, beta = 1.65, gamma = 1.66. The
pleochroism is X yellow, Y green, Z blue. The double refraction
varies from one specimen to another, but is sometimes so low that
1 Presented at the meeting of the Mineralogical Society of America, December 29, 192 L
PubHshed by permission of the Secretary of the vSmithsonian Institution. Received
Dec. .31, 1921.
2 Second Geol. Survey Penna. Rept. D 3, II, 1: 93-94. 1883.
3 Bull. Amer. Muj;. Nat. Hist. 32: 517-526. 1913.
MAY 19, 1922 WHERRY AND SHANNON : CROCIDOLITE 243
anomalous interference colors due to high dispersion in some inde-
terminate direction are shown. One of the best samples for optical
study came from a road metal quarry southwest of the town of Mohn-
ton, Berks County, the rock being a highly metamorphosed Triassic
sandstone. Other noteworthy localities in similar rock, as well as in
the Triassic diabase causing the alteration, lie three miles — 5 kilometers
— south of the city of Reading, and just east of Little Oley, south of
Boyertown, Berks County. In addition to the pre-Cambrian gneiss
occurrences listed by Mrs. Knopf, it is abundant in these rocks north
of Oley Line, Berks County, and northeast of Dillingerville, Lehigh
County. It also occurs for some miles northeastward from Riegels-
ville, Pa., in the state of New Jersey. In all perhaps fifty localities
are known. ^
TABLE 1. — Analysis and Ratios of Crocidolite from Oley Line, Pa.
Analysis
Ratios
Theory
SiOo
51.62
0.86 or 6
50.7 (6)
AI2OS
0.92
0.01
Fe203
18.36
0.12 or 1
22.4 (1)
TiiOs
2.27
0.02
FeO
10.93
0.15 or 1
10.1 (1)
MgO
5.92
0.15
5.6(1)
CaO
0.48
0.01 or 1
Na20
K2O
5.62
0.66
0.09 ,,
0.01 ^'^/^
8.7(1)
H2O +
H2O-
2.57
1.04
100.39
0.06 '^'■/^
2.5(1)
Snm
100.0
Becoming interested in the identity of the mineral, the junior author
analyzed a sample from the locality north of Oley Line, which was
kindly selected and purified by Mr. C. S. Ross of the U. S. Geological
Survey, and proved to be cryptocrystalline and homogeneous on micro-
scopic examination. The analysis, the first made on pure material,
showed the mineral to be a semimagnesium crocidolite, with the
formula H2O . NaoO . MgO . FeO . FcsOg . GSiOs.
The high percentage of titanium present suggests that this element,
in its lower state of oxidation, may partially account for the extremely
intense color of the mineral, although admittedly part of the color is
due to iron. Titanium has therefore been regarded as replacing
aluminium and iron, rather than silicon. The low content of alkalies
* Professor A. H. Phillips reports it also in the highlands of New York State. It is rep-
resented in some mineral collections under the name vivianite.
244 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
is evidently connected with partial replacement of sodium bv hydro-
gen, total alkalies plus total water amounting to the theoretical ratio
of 2. The role of water in the glaucamphiboles appears never to have
been studied, but as most of the analyses show on the average 2% of
this constituent, it is probably at least in large part essential.
It is interesting to consider the mode of occurrence of the material :
it is found as impregnations and coatings in gneissoid rocks of pre-
Cambrian age, in diabase of Triassic age, and in sediments of the latter
age intruded by the diabase. The gneisses thus impregnated are usu-
ally greatly shattered ; the crocidolite not only fills the resulting crev-
ices, but also replaces the original minerals of the gneiss. Replace-
ment of hornblende was described by Mrs. Knopf, and it may be added
that the rocks, which usually contain considerable primary quartz
where unaltered, are practically free from this mineral in extensively
crocidolitized zones. Some of the silica has been redeposited, with the
crocidolite, in the form of secondary quartz. The same phenomenon
is noticeable in the replacement of these gneisses by sericite'' which
is of frequent occurrence in the region, namely that the primary quartz
is replaced more rapidly than the feldspar. This points to the depo-
sition of the crocidolite, like the sericite, from hydrothermal solutions.
The shattering of the crocidolitized gneisses is, in the experience of the
senior writer, almost always connected with faulting of late Triassic
date, and since the same mineral occurs in the late Triassic diabase
and the sediments it has metamorphosed, the suggestion is here made
that the hydrothermal solutions which deposited the crocidolite in
the various occurrences came alike from the Triassic diabase magma.
PALEONTOLOGY. — Middle Eocene Foraminifera of the genus Dictyo-
conus from the Republic of Haiti.''- Wendell P. Woodring, U. S.
Geological Survey.
In 1900, Chapman (1, pp. 11-12, pi. 2, figs. 1-3) described as Patel-
lina egyptiensis a curious conical species of Foraminifera that was col-
lected in northern Egypt between Cairo and Suez from rocks that were
then supposed to be of lower Miocene age. The generic name Patel-
lina was used by Chapman as the equivalent of Orbitolina. Blancken-
horn (2, pp. 419, 432-435) showed that the rocks from which Chapman's
specimens were collected are part of the lower Mokattam group of mid-
5 Wherry. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 29: 383. 1918.
1 Published by permission of the Engineer in Chief, Republic of Haiti, and of the Direc-
tor, U. S. Geological Survey. Received April 24, 1922.
MAY 19, 1922 woodring: dictyoconus from haiti 245
die Eocene (Lutetian) age. As Patellina egyptiensis is different from the
Recent species of Patellina and the Cretaceous species of Orhitolina,
Blanckenhorn proposed for it the new generic name Dictyoconus.^
Blanckenhorn considered Dictyoconus a guide genus of the lower
"Mokattamstufe." Dictyoconus egyptiensis was fully described by
Schlumberger and H. Douville, 1905 (3, pp. 298-304, pi. 9).
During a geological reconnaissance of the Republic of Haiti in the
winter of 1920-1921 by J. S. Brown, W. S. Burbank, and myself,
numerous specimens of two new species of Dictyoconus were collected
from a limestone that crops out in the central and southern parts of
the western half of the Departement du Nord. The limestone was
named by Vaughan (4, pp. 58, 94) the Plaisance limestone. The most
abundant species is remarkably similar to Dictyoconus egyptiensis;
but the other species is even more depressed than the microscope form
of Dictyoconus egyptiensis figured by Schlumberger and H. Douville,
and it has an undulate base. These Haitian species will be described
in a report on the geology of the Republic of Haiti now being prepared
for publication. Thin sections show that they have the same internal
structure as the Egyptian specimens.
The structural relations of the Plaisance limestone indicate that it is
of middle Eocene (Lutetian) age, and not of upper Eocene (Priabonian)
age, as was supposed when it was named. The evidence furnished by
the Foraminifera seems to be a striking confirmation of its middle
Eocene age. The Plaisance limestone is the first formation of middle
Eocene age recognized in the West Indies proper, as the upper Eocene
is the only one of the commonly accepted subdivisions of the Eocene
heretofore recognized (5, p. 607).
A third species of Dictyoconus was collected at many localities in
the northern part of the Republic from rocks that are clearly of upper
Eocene (Priabonian) age. This species is found with Orthophragmina
crassa Cushman, Orthophragmina cubensis Cushman,. and other upper
Eocene orbitoidal Foraminifera, and it seems to be similar to Dictyoconus
americana (Cushman), which was described from the upper Eocene
(Priabonian) St. Bartholomew limestone of the island of St. Barthol-
omew (6, p. 43, text fig. 3). The species described from St. Barthol-
omew is the only American species that has heretofore been described.
Cushman (4, pp. 105, 106) has recorded the same or a similar species
from the upper Eocene of the Dominican Republic.
^ On p. 419 where the genus is first mentioned by Blanckenhorn the spelling is Dictyoco-
nus, but on the following pages the less desirable spelling Dictyoconos is used.
246 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
Similar conical Foraminifera of Eocene age have commonly been
called by the generic name Conulites, and Chapman in 1902 (7, pp. 156-
157, 276, pi. 8, figs. K, k, text fig. 36) called the Egyptian species
Conulites aegyptiensis . The genus Conulites was described by Carter
in 1861 (8, pp. 331-332, 457-458, pi. 15, figs. 7, 7a-g; 9, pp. 53-54,
83-84) for a species of Foraminifera, apparently of middle Eocene
(Kirthar) age, from western India. According to Carter's descrip-
tion and figures the Indian specimens have a different structure from
the Egyptian and West Indian specimens. Blanckenhorn (2, p. 433)
suggested that some of the Foraminifera described by Carter in the
same papers as Orbitolina are similar to the Egyptian Dictyoconus.
In 1904 Prever and Silvestri (10, pp. 470, 477-486, figs. 1-5) pro-
posed the new generic name Chapmania for Patellina egyptiensis on the
invalid grounds that Dictyoconus was a synonym of Orbitolina, and
was briefly described and not figured. They described and figured
under the name of Chapmania aegyptiensis (Chapman) a middle Eocene
species of Foraminifera from Italy that has a different structure from
the Egyptian and West Indian specimens. Silvestri (ll) and Airaghi
(12, p. 160; 13, pp. 182-185, pi. 5, figs. 1-4) recorded this ItaHan spe-
cies from several localities. In view of the differences between the
Egyptian and Italian species Silvestri later (14, 15) redescribed the
Italian species, as Chapmania gassiensis}
In 1912 Schubert (16) described and figured Coscinolina liburnica
Stache, a genus and species from basal middle Eocene rocks of the
Istrian-Dalmatian coast that had been imperfectly described by
Stache in 1875 (17). Coscinolina has a more pronounced early spiral
stage than Dictyoconus or "Chapmania," and was considered by Schu-
bert as a more primitive type. Coscinolina liburnica has been recorded
by H. Douville (18, 19) from northern Egypt in beds below the horizon
of Dictyoconus.
The available records show that these conical Eocene Foraminifera,
Conulites, Dictyoconus, Coscinolina, and the Italian genus called
Chapmania, are strictly tropical. Their range in latitude is even more
limited than the range in latitude of the orbitoidal genera Orthophrag-
mina and Leipdocyclina, which migrated northward to southwestern
France and to the southern Coastal Plain of the United States. The
remarkable similarity of the Egyptian and West Indian species of
Dictyoconus is another example of the striking resemblance of the
' As Chapmania is a synonym of Dictyoconus, the Italian species should receive a new
generic name.
MAY 19, 1922 WOODRING : DICTYOCONUS FROM HAITI 247
West Indian Tertiary faunas to those of the same age in the Mediter-
ranean region .
LIST OP PAPERS CITED
1. Chapman, F. On a Patellina-lime stone and another Foraminiferal limestone from
Egypt. Geol. Mag., new ser., Dec. -i, 7: 3-17, pi. 2. 1900.
2. Blanckenhorn, Max. Neues zur Geologie und Paldontologie Aegyptens. Deutsche
geol. Gesell. Zeitschr. 52: 403-479. 1900.
3. ScHLUMBERGER, Ch., and Henri Douville- Stir deux Foraminiferes Eocenes. Soc.
geol. France Bull. IV, 5: 291-304, pi. Q, 7 text figs. 1905.
4. Vaughan, T. W., Wythe Cooke, D. D. Condit, C. P. Ross, W. P. Woodring, and
F. C. Calkins. A geological reconnaissance of the Dominican Republic. Dominican Rep.
Geol. Surv. Mem. 1. Pp. 268, pi. 23. Washington, 1921.
5. Vaughan, T. W. The biologic character and geologic correlation of the sedimentary
formations of Panama in their relation to the geologic history of Central America and the West
Indies. U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 103: 546-612. 1919.
6. CusHMAN, Joseph Augustine. Fosil Foraminifera from the West Indies. Carnegie
Inst. Washington Pub. 291: 23-71, 13 pis., 8 text figs. 1919.
7. Chapman, Frederick. The Foraminifera, an introduction to the study of the Protozoa.
Pp. XV, 354, pis. 14, figs. 42. London, 1902.
8. Carter, H. J. Further observations on the structure of Foraminifera, and on the larger
fossilized forms of Sinde, etc., including a new genus and species. Annals and Mag. Nat.
Hist. Ill, 8: 309-333, 366-382, 446-470. Pis. 15-17. 1861.
9. Carter, H. J. Further observations on the structure of Foraminifera and on the larger
fossilized forms of Sinde, etc., including a new genus and species. Bombay Branch Roy.
Asiatic Soc. Journ. 6^1: 31-96. 1862.
10. Prever, p. L., and A. vSilvestri. Contributio alio studio della Orbito-linae. Soc.
geol. Italiana Boll. 32: 467-486,^^5.7-5. 1904.
11. Silvestri, a. Localitd Toscana del genre Chapmania Silv. et Prev. Boll, del Nat-
uralista24: 117-119, ^g5. j-j. 1904.
12. Airaghi, Zina Leardi in, Foraminifera Eocenici di S. Genesio (Collina di Torino).
Soc. Ital. Sci. Nat. Atti 43: 159-171. 1905.
13. Airaghi, Zina Leardi in, II Conulites aegyptiensis Chapman e la Baculogypsina
sphaerulata {Parker e Jones) di S. Genesio , For aminiferi Eocenici del Colli Toriensi. Soc.
Ital. Sci. Nat. Atti 43: 182-188, pi. 5. 1905.
14. Silvestri, A. Sul Dictyoconus aegyptiensis {Chapman). Accad. pontif. nuovi
Lincei Atti 58: 129-131, ^g. 2. 1905.
15. Silvestri, A. La Chapmania gassinensis Silv. Riv. ital. paleontologia 11: 113-
120, pi. 2, 2 text figs. 1905.
16. Schubert, Richard, tjber Lituonella und Coskinolina liburnica Stache sowie
deren Beziehtmgen zu den anderen Dictyconinen. K.-k. geol. Reichsanstalt Jahrbuch.
62: 195-208, pi. 10. 1912.
17. Stache, G. Neue Beobachtungen in den Schichten der liburnischen Stufe. K.-k.
geol. Reichsanstalt Verh. 1875: 334-338. 1875.
18. D0UVILL6, H. Les Foraminiferes de I' Eocene dans la region de Suez. Soc. geol.
France Compt. rend. som. 1920: 106-107. 1920.
19. DotrviLL^, H. Le gebel Geneffe, d'apres les explorations de M. J. Barthoux. Soc.
geol. France Compt. rend. som. 1921: 133-135. 1921.
248 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY.— 7/^£? crystal structures of the alkali
halides} II. Eugen Posnjak and Ralph W. G. Wyckoff,
Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington.
These determinations of the crystal structures of the halides of
lithium and the fluorides of the alkali metals have been carried out by
the same procedure and with the same apparatus used for part I of
this paper. ^ Except for RbF and CsF, determinations of density
were at hand for use in finding the number of molecules to be asso-
ciated with the unit cube. In all cases data will be given for only
enough lines to assure the correctness of the chosen structure. In
every instance the other lines that appeared gave satisfactory agree-
ment.
LITHIUM FLUORIDE
This salt has already been determined^ to have the "sodium chlor-
ide' ' structure (fig. 1 , part I) . According to this previous measurement
thelengthof thesideof theunitcubeis4.14 A. U. (or 4.14 X10~^cm.).
LITHIUM CHLORIDE
Bstimated Calculated intensity
hkl intensity NaCl grouping ZnS grouping
111 (1) 10 6,900 10,500
100 (2) 10 7,530 3,700
110 (2) 6 6,640 6,640
113 (1) 4 4,480 6,800
Calculated density = 2.02.
Spacing: dioo = 5.17 ± 0.02A. U.
Structure: NaCl grouping (fig. 1, part I).
LITHIUM BROMIDE
hkl
Estimated
intensity
Calcul
NaCl grouping
lated intensity
ZnS group]
111 (1)
10
36,100
43,400
100 (2)
9
27,200
19,300
110 (2)
6
24,000
24,000
113 (1)
4
23,400
28,200
Calculated density = 3.46.
Spacing: dioo = 5.48 =t 0.02 A. U.
Structure; NaCl grouping.
1 Received April 20, 1922.
2 Ralph W. G. Wyckoff. This Journal 11: 429. 1921.
3 P. Debye and P. vScherrer. Phys. Z. 17: 277. 1916.
MAY 19, 1922 POSNJAK AND WYCKOFF: AL,KALI HALIDES
249
I^ITHIUM IODIDE
Considerable difficulty was experienced in preparing anhydrous
Lil. The salt which was finally used was fused in an atmosphere of
hydrogen and, immediately upon solidification, was powdered and
enclosed in a capillary glass tube. A couple of faint lines which
were found upon the photographs, but which could not be associated
with Lil are undoubtedly due to hydration or decomposition prod-
ucts of this salt. The agreement between the estimated intensities
and those calculated from the commonly employed assumptions is
not so good as usual.
hkl
Estimated
intensity
Calculated intensity
NaCl grouping ZnS grouping
111 (1)
10
88,000
99,200
100 (2)
10
59,100
47,200
110 (2)
6
52,200
52,200
113 (1)
6
57,100
64,500
Calculated density
=
3.94.
Spacing: dioo = 6.
06
± 0.02 A. U.
Structure: Probably the NaCl grouping.
SODIUM
FLUORIDE
hkl
Estimated
intensity
Calculated inten.<'ity
NaCl grouping ZnS grouping
111(1)
Absent
141
7,100
100 (2)
10
7,500
75
110 (2)
8
6,650
6,650
111 (2)
3
2,750
27
100 (4)
2
1.480
1,480
120 (2)
4
4,520
45
Calculated density
=
2.78.
Spacing: dioo = 4.
61,
5 =fc 0.01 A. U.
Structure: NaCl grouping.
POTASSIUM
: FLUORIDE
hid
Estimated
intensity
Calculated intensity
NaCl grouping ZnvS grouping
100 (2)
10
15,100
1,890
110 (2)
9
13,300
13,300
111 (2)
2
5,500
676
120 (2)
4
9,030
1,160
112 (2)
3
7,340
7,340
Calculated density
=
2.48.
Spacing: dioo = 5.
36
=fc 0.01 A.U.
Structure: NaCl grouping.
RUBIDIUM FLUORIDE
The diffraction effects observed upon photographs from four dif-
ferent preparations of RbF were essentially the same. They are,
250 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
however, so difficult to reconcile with any simple structure for this
salt that further work will be necessary to establish its structure with
certainty.
CAESIUM FLUORIDE
The density of this salt, as approximately determined from a mea-
surement of its refractive index"* indicates that four molecules are to
be associated with the unit cube. The diffraction data are in such
good agreement with a structure containing this number of molecules
in the unit that there is little reason for doubting the correctness of the
structure here assigned (which is different from that of all of the other
caesium halides).
Estimated
Calculated intensity
hkl
intensity
NaCl grouping
ZnS grouping
111 d)
10
74,600
109,200
100 (2)
10
77,200
40,000
110 (2)
7
68,200
68,200
113 (1)
6
48,500
70,800
100 (4)
1
15,200
15,200
120 (2)
3
46,300
24,000
112 (2)
2
37,600
37,600
Calculated density = 4.52.
Spacing: dioo = 6.03 ± 0.02 A. U.
Structure: NaCl grouping.
Discussion of these structures. — The data concerning (1) the struc-
tures, (2) the dimensions of the unit cells, and (3) the distance of near-
est approach of unlike atoms in each crystal of this series are collected
in table 1.^
On the basis of the available crystal structure data, volumes of
"spheres of influence" have been assigned^ to various atoms and
crystals imagined as resulting from a close packing of these atomic
spheres. The extent to which these measurements are in agreement
with such an hypothesis may be tested by assigning to some one
atom an indefinite radius a and obtaining the radii of the other atoms
in terms of a. If this is done the calculated distances R-X of table
* We wish to thank Dr. H. E. Merwin of this Laboratory for determining the refrac-
tive index of caesium fluoride, and suggesting the estimation of its density therefrom.
The index is 1.478 =•= 0.005. Applying Gladstone's law and using the specific refractive
energies given by E. S. Larsen (U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 679: 31), the density of caesium
fluoride is found to be approximately 4.38.
^ After completing our determinations of the structures of the alkali halides we have
become aware of previous work upon some of them through a paper by A. W. HuLi<. Journ.
Frankl. Inst., 193, 217. 1922.
« W. L. Bragg. Phil. Mag. VI, 40: 169. 1920.
MAY 19, 1922
PROCeeDINGS : BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
251
1, which are in excellent agreement with the observed distances,
are the result. An hypothesis of constant atomic dimensions in crys-
tals which is based on the most reliable data meets, however, with
such serious difficulties when passing from compounds of one type to
those of another that it can scarcely now be said what significance
attaches to such numerical agreements as this one.
Crystal
LiF
LiCl
LiBr
Lil
NaF
NaCl
NaBr
Nal
KF
KCl
KBr
KI
RbF
RbCl
RbBr
Rbl
CsF
CsCl
CsBr
Csl
TABLE 1. — Summarized Data on the Alkali Halides
structure
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCI
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCI
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
fFig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl
(Fig. 1)
NaCl (Fig. 1)
Body-centered (Fig. 2)
Body-centered (Fig. 2)
Body-centered (Fig. 2)
A. U.
Distance R-X
Observed Calculated
A. U. A. U.
4.14
2.07
2.08
5.17
2.585
(2.585)
5.48
2.74
2.745
6.06
3.03
3.01 .
4.62
2.31
(2.31)
5.628
2.81^
(2.81^)
5.95
2.975
(2.975)
6.47
3.236
(3.235)
5.36
2.68
2.63
6.26
3.13
(3.13)
6.59
3.295
3.29
7.11
3.555
3.55
6.60
3.30
(3.30)
6.93
3.465
3.46
7.36
3.68
3.72
6.03
3.015
3.06
4.12
3.56
(3.56)
4.30
3.73
3.72
4.55
3.94
3.98
Note: The distances in parentheses are used to calculate the values in the last column.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
BIOLOGICAIv SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
629th meeting
The 629th meeting of the Biological Society of Washington, was held
jointly with Washington Academy of Sciences and the Botanical Society of
Washington on November 12, 1921 in the Lecture Hall of the Cosmos Club
at 8: 00 o'clock under the Presidency of the Academy.
Prof. Arthur de Jaczewski, Director of the Institute of Mycology and
Pathology at Petrograd, delivered an address on The development of mycol-
ogy and pathology in Russia.
Prof. Nicolas I. Vavilov, Director of the Bureau of Applied Botany and
252 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
Plant Breeding at Petrograd delivered an address on Russian work in genetics
and plant breeding.
Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, Permanent Secretary of the National Research
Council, lead a discussion on The interrelations of Russia and American scien-
tists.
630th meeting
The 630th meeting was held in the Lecture Hall of the Cosmos Club No\ em-
ber 26, 1921. President Hollister presided and 44 members were present.
Upon recommendation of the Council Mr. Thos. E. Penard and Dr. T.
Van Hyning were elected to membership. The program was as follows:
R. W. vShufeldt: Changes in the skull of an American badger (Taxidea
americana) due to extreme old age (illustrated). A reading of Dr. Coues'
descriptions of badger skulls, evidently based upon small and imperfect
ones, led to an examination of the series in the National Museum. It was
found that as distinguished from skulls of young animals, the skulls in older
specimens showed a large median crest, with other cranial developments
such as greatly developed and outwardly curved zygomas, and a great con-
traction or pinching of the cranium. These changes in the skull are correlated
with the development of the masseter muscles as the specimen grows older.
J. W. GidlEy: The Primates of the Paleocene. Information regarding
the origin of the Primates is of special interest to man because it is the order
to which he belongs, as well as the living lemurs, apes, and monkeys. Fossil
primate material is rare and generally fragmentary, and the discussions and
conclusions upon the early life history and development of the Primates are
necessarily incomplete.
Primates have long been known from the Eocene, but older forms have
been found in the Fort Union formation which is Paleocene. In the Eocene
of America, two distinct groups of Primates have been recognized, each with
several genera and species. One of these, as shown by Matthew, is a sub-
family of Tarsiidae, and includes at least five groups of supergeneric rank.
The other Eocene group, as shown by Gregory, is a subfamily of the Euro-
pean Eocene family Adapidae (Notharctidae).
Regarding the relationships of the Eocene Primates and especially the
Adapidae to the living groups of Primates, there exists among authorities
considerable difference of opinion. But there has been a rather generally
accepted view that these early Primates were, at least, representative of, if
not ancestral to all, or nearly all, of the living lemurs, apes and monkeys.
Gregory attempts to show from the lemur-like characters in the Notharctid
group, that they are true primitive lemurs, comprising a group of Primates
"which is at once the oldest and most primitive which is known from adequate
material," establishing an early skeletal type "relatively near to the base of
the order, and representing in many respects the earliest ancestors of the
higher Primates." Also Gregory describes a hypothetical Paleocene group
ancestral to both the Tarsiidae and Adapidae (Notharchidae) of the Eocene.
Mr. Gidley stated that his researches in the Paleocene faunas from the
Fort Union collection in the National Museum reveals four groups of super-
generic importance ; two of them represent new subgroups of the Tarsiidae
as defined by Matthew, one is referable to one of Matthew's Eocene subgroups,
and the fourth represents the genus Nothodectus, described by Matthew and
referred by him to a new family, the Nothodectidae. No species was found
fulfilling the requirements of a near relative of the Notharctidae, or the hy-
MAY 19, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : BIOI^OGICAIy SOCIETY 253
pothetical Paleocene group. Hence Dr. Gregory's contention regarding the
evolutionary status of the Notharctid group is not well founded. This
conclusion Gidley has substantiated by a restudy of the Eocene Primates,
and finds that the Notharctids could not have given rise to any modern le-
murs, and because of their advanced stage of development cannot be con-
sidered a close connecting link between the Primates and the Insectivores as
advanced by Gregory. Mr. Gidley, on the other hand, concludes that since the
subfamily groups of the Eocene, which were represented in the Paleocene, are
found to be almost as clearly marked in their special lines of development,
the origin of these groups is still more remote and the order of Primates and
its families have been established longer than has generally been conceded.
Mr. Gidley's paper was discussed by Dr. T. S. Palmer.
J. M. Aldrich: An entomologist in Alaska (illustrated). The speaker
visited Alaska last summer for the purpose of making a collection of insects
of the interior for the National Museum. He went by steamer to Seward, then
up the new government railroad to Fairbanks, and returned the same way.
At the time of his visit there was an unfinished portion of the railroad of some
SO miles; he rode a horse across this, but it has since been practically com-
pleted. Economic conditions in the interior of the territory he described as
very bad on account of the abandonment of gold mining in the last few years.
It was hoped that the completion of the railroad would reduce operating
costs enough to warrant a resumption of mining, upon which all other ac-
tivities of the interior depend.
Alaska as far as seen by the speaker is almost wholly forested but the tim-
ber aw^ay from the coast is thin and small. The rainfall is very heavy along
the extreme coast, but behind the first ranges it is much less, and over the
main expanse of territory it is about ten or eleven inches; even at the coast
north of the Aleutian peninsula it is very light. Agriculture however has been
begun in some sections. Crops grow best in the interior, on account of the
hotter summers ; the region of Fairbanks has considerable possibilities if a pop-
ulation were there to consume the farm products. Lack of market at pres-
ent makes the business impracticable.
Entomologically the abundance of mosquitoes is one of the chief features.
These insects make life a burden during their season, June and July, neces-
sitating various adaptations for protection on the part of the human species.
Horseflies and several other kinds of blood-sucking flies are abundant at
times or in particular regions. The relations of the fauna are with the
Canadian zone of the northern part of the United States and the higher
Rocky Mountains in the States; another element follows the Pacific ocean
southward along Puget Sound and the coast of Washington and Oregon ; no
doubt other elements extend to Greenland and westward across Siberia,
but these are almost wholly unknown.
Lantern slides were shown illustrating the vegetation, islands, mountains
and glaciers, as well as the new railroad to the interior.
Dr. Hadwinn, of the Biological vSurvey, was introduced by Dr. L. O. How-
ard. Dr. Hadwinn campared the region discussed with the tundra region
in which his collecting was done.
63 1st meeting (42nd annual meeting)
The 631st regular meeting and the 42nd annual meeting of the Biological
Society of Washington was held at the Cosmos Club, December 10, 1921.
254 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 10
President HoLLiSTER called the meeting to order at 8:15 o'clock, with 21
persons present.
Reports were received from the Recording Secretary, Corresponding
Secretary, and Committee on Publications. The report of the Treasurer was
read, and upon the hearing of the Auditing Committee, consisting of Messrs.
Oberholser, Howell, and Goldman, was accepted. A Committee of
the Council, appointed to draft a memorial to the late William Palmer,
presented the memorial, which was ordered inserted in the minutes. The
Committee consisted of Drs. J. N. Rose, Chas. W. Richmond, Paul Bartsch,
and Harry C. Oberholser. The Corresponding Secretary announced the
death of Mr. S. S. Voorhees.
The balloting for officers of the Society and Members of the Council re-
sulted as follows: President, Vernon Bailey; Vice Presidents, A. S. Hitch-
cock, J. W. Gidley, S. a. Rohwer, Harry C. Oberholser; Recording
Secretary, J. M. Aldrich; Corresponding Secretary, T. E. Snyder; Treas-
urer, Frederick C. Lincoln. Members of the Council, E. A. Goldman,
H. H. T. Jackson, R. E. Coker, R. W. Williams, W. R. Maxon.
Dr. Hopkins moved the nomination of Vernon Bailey as one of the
Vice Presidents of the Washington Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Palmer moved that the joint meeting of the Society of Nov. 12, 1921,
be included in the series of regular meetings, and that the proper consecu-
tive number be resumed in January; carried.
During the intervals of the balloting the following brief notes were given:
Prof. C. V. Piper: Note upon Panicmn kuntzii. This grass, otherwise rare,
is abundant in a wide region in Florida. It seems not to have been recog-
nized because it rarely blooms. It is locally known as "cut-throat grass"
because it occurs in channels called "cut-throats." Cattle eating the grass
become salt sick.
Dr. L. O. Howard suggested that since the Society is one of the few re-
maining strongholds of the old fashioned natural history, that a program be
arranged in which the old and new view-points can be discussed. Prof.
Piper stated that the broader point of view is emphasized in ShuU, Larue,
B.n6.^nt\w&n's Principles of animal biology. Dr. Howard added Needham's
General biology, and Cockerell's Zoology. Mr. DoolittlE said that the
death of John Burroughs has given impetus to the organizing of nature
clubs in the public schools.
Mr. F. C. Lincoln mentioned the peculiar feeding habits in North Dakota
of the sharp-tailed grouse, eating service berries, and buds and flowers of the
rosinweed. Prof. Piper and Mr. Goldman commented upon the great
increase of the Hungarian partridge in the Palouse country and elsewhere in
Washington. Dr. Palmer added that the birds were introduced in 1914.
A. A. DooLiTTLE, Recording Secretary.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol.12 June 4, 1922 No. 11
BOTANY. — New Passifloras from Mexico and Central America.'^ E.
P. KiLLiP, National Museum. (Communicated by William R.
Maxon.)
For some time past the writer has been engaged in a study of the
tropical North American species of Passiflora, with particular reference
to Mexico and Central America, a region from which few species have
been described since Master's comprehensive revision of the American
species in 1872. Since the publication of final results is unavoidably
delayed, it seems advisable to publish in advance descriptions of cer-
tain of the new species, in order that the names may be available.
Passiflora {Cieca) apetala Killip, sp. nov.
Glabrous throughout; stem angulate, grooved; tendrils solitary; stipules
setaceous, 2 to 4 mm. long; petioles 1.5 to 3 cm. long, glandless; leaves
broadly cuneate in outline, 3 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. broad, bilobate (lobes
subapproximate, one-half to quite as long as the undivided portion of blade,
obtuse, mucronate), at base subrotund or cuneate, membranaceous, strongly
3-nerved; peduncles in pairs, slender, 2 cm. long; bracts setaceous, deciduous,
2 to 3 mm. long; flowers small, 1.2 to l.<8 cm. wide; sepals oblanceolate, 6 mm.
long, 2.5 mm. broad, yellowish green, inconspicuously nerved; petals none;
filaments of faucial corona in a single series, filiform, 2.5 mm. long; middle
corona membranaceous, plicate, strongly incurved about base of gynophore;
basal corona annular; gynophore slender, glabrous, 3 mm. high; filaments
capillary, 2 mm. long, the anthers ovate, 1.5 mm. long; ovary depressed-
globose, 1 mm. in diameter, glabrous; styles 2.5 mm. long, filiform, the
stigmas semiorbicular ; fruit black, globose, 8 to 10 mm. in diameter; seeds
broadly ovate, 2.5 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, transversely rugose with 6 or 7
nearly parallel ridges.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 358,766, collected on Mount
Irazii, Costa Rica, altitude 1,000 meters, December 11, 1898, by H. Pittier
(no. 13,043) ; distributed as P. dtcthophylla.
The foliage of this plant resembles that of certain species of the section
Decaloha with bilobate leaves, notable Passiflora ornithoura, and is unlike
that of most of its apetalous allies. From Passiflora ornithoura it is dis-
1 Published by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Received
May 3, 1922.
255
256 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 1 1
tinguished not only by the absence of petals but by its longer and narrower
sepals and the longer, filiform threads of its faucial corona.
Passiflora arida (Mast. & Rose) Killip.
Passiflorafoetida arida Mast. & Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 5: 182. 1899.
Recent collections from Lower California and northwestern Mexico indi-
cate that this plant is sufficiently distinct from Passiflora foetida to deserve
specific rank.
Passiflora {Dysosmia) fruticosa Killip, sp. nov.
Low shrub with an erect caudex, 20 to 40 cm. high, and a few short, sprawl-
ing branches ; branches and tendrils densely white-lanate ; stipules semiannu-
lar about the stem, deeply cleft into filiform, gland-tipped divisions ; petioles
5 to 15 mm. long, densely lanate, destitute of true petiolar glands but bearing
numerous gland-tipped hairs; leaves orbicular in outline, usually 1.5 to 2
cm. long and broad, rarely up to 3.5 cm., 3-lobed (lobes subequal, rounded),
at base cordate, 3 to 5-nerved, densely glandular-ciliate, lanate with soft,
white to dark brown wool, glutinous ; peduncles 1 to 2.5 cm. long; bracts 2-
or 3-pinnatisect, hirsute, copiously covered with gland-tipped hairs; flowers
2.5 to 3 cm. in diameter; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 1 to 1..3 cm long, 0.6 cm.
broad at base, densely velvety-pubescent without, glabrous within; petals
5 to 7 mm. long, 4 mm. broad, obovate, glabrous; filaments of faucial corona
in several series, the outer two or three about 1 cm. long, filamentous, the
succeeding series minute, capillary, 1.5 to 2 ram. long; middle corona membra-
nous, not folded, the apex minutely denticulate; basal corona membranous,
1.5 mm. high, the margin entire, recurved; ovary subglobose, silky-pubescent;
fruit globose, 2.5 cm. in diameter, densely pubescent with long, silky hairs;
seeds oblong, minutely 3-toothed at the apex, truncate at the base, flattened,
5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. broad, reticulate with about 25 meshes to each face.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 638,347, collected at Santa
Maria Bay, Lower California, March 19, 1911, by J. N. Rose (no. 16,285).
In addition to the type, specimens from Espiritu Santo, Magdalena Island,
and San Francisco Island have been examined. Its shrubby aspect and ex-
treme oiliness, resulting from numerous gland-tipped hairs, distinguish this
species from Passiflora arida, while its smaller flowers, its proportionately
broader petals, and longer faucial corona threads differentiate it from P. pal-
nieri.
Passiflora (Plectostemma) cookii Killip, sp. nov.
Glabrous throughout; stem terete, striate, glaucous; stipules reniforra,
1.5 cm. long, 3 cm. broad, glaucous, crenate; petioles 3 to 4 cm. long, gland-
less; leaves broadly ovate, 8 cm. long, 6 to 7 cm. broad, very obscurely 3-
lobed (middle lobe deltoid, obtuse, mucronulate), at base truncate, dark
green above, glaucous beneath, peltate about 1.2 cm. from base, quintupli-
nerved; peduncles about 8 cm. long; bracts not seen; flowers white, 3.5 to
4.5 cm. wide; sepals ovate-lanceolate, 1.5 cm. long, 1 to 1.2 cm. broad, obtuse;
petals ovate-lanceolate, abruptly narrowed at the base, obtuse, 1.5 cm. long,
0.8 cm. broad, white, spotted with red; filaments of faucial corona in 2 series,
those of the outer series 1 cm. long, dilated at the apex, those of
JUNE 4, 1922 killip: new passifloras 257
the inner barely 3 mm. in length, capitate; middle corona mem-
branous, plicate, the apex incurved, fimbrillate; basal corona annular;
g}mophore 1 cm. high; filaments linear, 6 mm. long, 1.6 mm. wide, white,
spotted with red; anthers oblong, 5 mm. long, 2.5 mm. broad; ovary sub-
globose; styles filiform, 4 mm. long; stigmas reniform, 1 mm. in diameter.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 408,302, collected near Finca
Sepacuite, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, April 13, 1902, by O. F. Cook and R. F.
Griggs (no. 593).
But one specimen of this species has been examined and upon this no
bracts were present. In other respects it bears a strong resemblance to P.
hahnii and it is to be suspected that it has foliaceous deciduous bracts. It
ma}^ be distinguished from P. hahnii by its larger, crenate stipules, the glau-
cous under surface of the leaves, and its smaller flowers. From P. meni-
hranacea, another species of this group, it differs in its spreading sepals and
petals, its shorter peduncles, and in the elongate middle lobe of its leaves.
Passiflora {Plectostemma) costaricensis Killip, sp. nov.
Stem angulate, hirsute with long, spreading, light-brown hairs, glabrescent
below; stipules subulate, 6 to 8 mm. long; petioles 1.5 to 2 cm. long, densely
hirsute, glandless; leaves oval or suborbicular-oval in outline, 9 to 13 cm.
long, 7 to 11 cm. broad, 2-lobed (lobes deltoid, acute or acuminate, mucro-
nate, extending about one-third the length of blade, subapproximate, the
terminal sinus nearly semicircular), at base rounded, 3-nerved, membranous,
hirsute, especially beneath; peduncles solitary, 1.5 cm. long, articulate at
the middle, sparingly pilose; bracts none; flowers 4.5 to 5 cm. wide; sepals
linear -lanceolate, 2 cm. long, 0.4 cm. broad, obtuse, hirsute without, glabrous
within, the central portion dark green, the margin hyaline, white: petals
linear-oblong, 8 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, obtuse, hyaline; filaments of faucial
corona in a single series, narrowly ligulate, as long as the petals; middle
corona closely plicate, the margin incurved; basal corona annular; ovary
minutely puberulent; fruit ellipsoidal, 7 to 8 cm. long, 1 to 1.5 cm. in diam-
eter at the middle, long- tapering at both ends ; seeds slightly flattened, narrowly
oblong, 3 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad, black, shining, transversely rugose with
6 or 7 ridges, the ridges smooth, parallel, the axis curved, the beak 0.9 mm.
long, recurved.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 941,592, collected in the forests
of Xirores, Talamanca, Costa Rica, February, 1895, by A. Tonduz (no.
9327).
Additional Specimens Examined:
Guatemala: Cubilquitz, Alta Verapaz, alt. 350 meters, September,
1901, von Tuerckheim (J. D. Smith, no. 7877).
Costa Rica: Las Vueltas, Tucurrique, January, 1899, Tonduz 13,146.
Between La Junta and Florida, July 11, 1920, Rowlee & Stork 619. Livings-
ton, on Rio Reventazon, July 11, 1920, Rowlee & Stork 723.
This species is to be distinguished from Passiflora capsularis by the shape
of the leaves and the character of the faucial corona. In P. costaricensis
the leaves are longer than broad and are rounded at the base; they have a
semicircular sinus, formed by relatively approximate lobes. In P. capsu-
258 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OE SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
laris the leaves are broader than long and are cordate at the base ; they have
an irregular sinus, formed by widely divergent lobes and a more or less prom-
inent intermediate lobe. The faucial corona filaments are 2-ranked in P.
CQstaricensis and 1 -ranked in P. capsularis.
Passiflora {Plectostemma) heydei Killip, sp. nov.
Stem obscurely 4-angled, grooved, glabrate below, sparingly hispidulous
above; tendrils solitary, glabrate or hispidulous; stipules in pairs, oblong-
falcate, 6 mm. long, 3 mm. broad, long-cuspidate, minutely hispidulous,
sparsely ciliate; petioles 2 to 5 cm. long, flattened, hispidulous, biglandular,
the glands borne within 1 cm. of the apex, clavate, 1..5 mm. long, 0.8 to 1 mm.
in diameter; leaves suborbicular-ovate or deltoid in outline, 5 to 8 cm. long,
6 to 10 cm. broad, 3-lobed to slightly below the middle (lobes acute, the
central one ovate or ovate-lanceolate, narrowed or frequently broadest at
the base, the lateral divergent at an angle of about 70° from the midrib),
deeply cordate at base, 3-nerved, repandly dentate or denticulate with mu-
cronulate teeth, membranous, dark green and hispidulous with minute
hooked hairs above, paler and densely soft-pubescent beneath; penduncles
in pairs, densely hispidulous, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, spreading at right angles;
bracts 3, setaceous, 2.5 to 3 mm. long, borne about 1 cm. below the base of
the flower, approximate or the uppermost slightly remote; flowers about 2
cm. wide; sepals linear-oblong, 1 to 1.3 cm. long, 3 mm. broad, obtuse,
densely hispid and green outside, inside glabrous, white, mottled with red, the
apex terminating in a horn about 3.5 mm. long; petals linear-lanceolate, 7
mm. long, 2 mm. broad, obtuse, white (?); filaments of faucial corona in a
single series, capillary, 5 to 6 mm. long ; middle corona membranous, plicate,
the margin slightly incurved, crenulate; secondary middle corona annular,
midway between the preceding and the base of the gynophore; basal corona
arising at the base of the gynophore, membranous, adnate to the floor of the
tube, at length free, 2 mm. long; gynophore glabrous, 4 or 5-angled, about
1 mm. in diameter, swollen at the base to a diameter of 2 mm. ; anthers ovate,
2 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad; ovary subglobose, densely hispidulous, glaucous;
fruit globose, 2 cm. in diameter, hispidulous, glaucous; seeds somewhat com-
pressed, obovoid, 4 mm. long, abruptly tapering at the base, mucronate at
the apex, reticulate, the central mesh or the 2 central meshes 1 mm. in diam-
eter, the surrounding 8 or 9 meshes averaging 0.8 mm. in diameter.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 207,154, collected at Casillas,
Department of Santa Rosa, Guatemala, September, 1892, by Heyde and Lux
(J. D. Smith, no. 3772) ; distributed as "Passiflora sicyoides Cham. ? aut n. sp. ?"
Duplicates in the Gray and John Donnell Smith herbaria.
In the shape of its leaves and the size of its seeds this species resembles P.
exsvidans Zucc. It is readily distinguished .by the location of the petiolar
glands at the apex of the petioles and by its densely hispidulous, glaucous
fruit.
Passiflora {Plectostemma) panamensis Killip, sp. nov.
Glabrous throughout; stem angulate, grooved, flexuous; tendrils filiform,
very slender; stipules linear-falcate, 4 to 5 mm. long; petioles 1.5 to 2.5 cm.
long, glandless; leaves suborbicular in outline, 5 to 8 cm. long, 5 to 7 cm.
broad, 3-lobed (the lobes approximate, subequal or the middle slightly
JUNE 4, 1922 KILLIP: NEW PASSIFLORAS 259
longer, about one-third the length of blade, triangular, acute or somewhat
obtuse, mucronate), rounded or subpeltate at base, subpergamentaceous,
3-nerved, ocellate beneath ; peduncles 2.5 to 4 cm. long, articulate about 6
mm. below the flower; bracts setaceous, deciduous, two borne at the point of
articulation, the third near the middle of the peduncle; flower about 3 cm.
wide; sepals oblong-lanceolate, 1.2 to 1.4 cm. long, 6 to 7 mm. broad, obtuse,
yellowish green; petals rose-colored, spatulate, 8 mm. long, 3 to 4 mm.
broad; filaments of faucial corona in 2 series, the outer 7 mm. long, dilated
and 3-angled toward the apex, the inner 3 mm. long, capillary and minutely
capitellate; middle corona membranous, pink, plicate, erect, crenulate;
basal corona annular; anthers linear-oblong 2.5 to 3 mm. long; ovary globose
sparingly strigillose; styles subangulate, 3.5 mm. long; fruit globose, 2 cm.
in diameter, glabrate; seeds straw-colored, obovate, apiculate, strongly
flattened, transversely rugose with about 6 sharp somewhat rugulose
ridges.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 715,818, collected along the
Sambii River, southern Darien, Panama, above the tide limit, February,
1912, by H. Pittier (no. 5556).
The lobation of the leaves of this species differs materially from that of
its nearest allies. The arrangement and appearance of the coronae suggest
P. hiflora, but the flower is larger, the petals are rose-colored, and the leaves
are distinctly 3-lobed, the middle lobe generally being slightly the largest.
Passiflora (Plectostemma) rovirosae Killip, sp. nov.
Stem 4-angled, striate, glabrate below, pubescent or pilosulous above;
stipules narrowly falcate-subulate, 8 to 10 mm. long; petioles densely pubes-
cent, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, glandless; leaves subtruncate-ovate in outline,
8 to 10 cm. long, 6 to 7 cm. broad, bilobate (lobes one-eighth to one-quarter
the length of blade, somewhat divergent, acute, mucronulate) , deeply cordate
at base, slightly narrowed toward apex, membranous, above dark green,
glabrate, or puberulent on the nerves, beneath pale, densely pubescent or
tomentulous; peduncles 1 to 1.5 cm. long, 1-flowered, in pairs on short,
axillary, often leafy, puberulent branches 1 to 2 cm. long, the inflorescence
thus appearing racemose ; bracts none ; flowers 3 to 4 cm. wide ; sepals oblong,
1.3 to 1.5 cm. long, 0.4 cm. broad, obtuse; petals oblong, obtuse, 0.9 to 1.1
cm. long, 0.3 cm. broad; filaments of faucial corona in two series, the outer
filiform, about 1 cm. long, the inner capillary, barely 4 mm. long; middle
corona membranous, erect, 4 to 5 mm. high, closely plicate; basal corona
annular; gynophore angled, 7 mm. high, glabrous; ovary narrowly ovoid,
6-angled, canescent; anthers oblong, 4 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad; styles
capillary, 6 mm. long; stigmas reniform, 2 mm. broad; fruit ellipsoid or
fusiform, tapering at both ends, 4 to 5 cm. long, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. in diameter
at the middle.
Type in the herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,
collected at Atasta, Tabasco, Mexico, June 15, 1890, by J. N. Rovirosa
(no. 813). Photograph in U. S. National Herbarium.
Additional specimen examined:
Veracruz: Misantla, Pur pus 5881.
The fruit of this species indicates relationship with Passiflora capsularis,
260 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
from which it can be distinguished by its longer leaves and by the inflorescence.
Its peduncles are borne in pairs on short, axillary branches, rather than
singly in the axils of the leaves of the main stem.
Passiflora (Plectostemma) talamancensis Killip, sp. nov.
Stem angulate, striate, minutely puberulent; stipules linear-subulate,
3 to 8 mm. long; petioles 1 to 2 cm. long, puberulent or tomentellous, glandless;
leaves cuneate-obovate or cuneate-oval in outline, 6 to 12 cm. long, 3 to 7 cm.
broad, very shortly 3-lobed or 3-toothed at apex (middle lobe normally long-
est, 5 to 10 mm. long, usually deltoid), cuneate or rounded at base, narrowed
above the middle, subcoriaceous, glabrous and lustrous above, dull and
puberulent beneath, strongly 3-nerved, ocellate beneath; peduncles slender,
2 to 4 cm. long; bracts setaceous, 2 mm. long, deciduous; flowers 2.5 to
3.5 cm. wide; sepals oblong, obtuse, about 1.5 cm. long, 0.5 cm. broad,
green without, white within; petals two-thirds as long as the sepals, white;
filaments of faucial corona in two series, those of the outer series falcate-
spatulate, 5 to 7 mm. long, white (?), those of the inner series capillary, 1.5
mm. long, white, purple at the tips; middle corona close to the faucial, mem-
branous, plicate, 2 mm. long, erect, the margin minutely crenulate, slightly
recurved; basal corona annular; gynophore glabrous, purple-striate ; ovary
globose, densely tomentellous; styles filiform, 4 mm. long; stigmas reniform;
seeds ovate, 4 mm. long, 2 mm. broad, transversely rugose with 6 or 7 mi-
nutely rugulose ridges, asymmetrical, the margin bearing a single knob on one
side just below the apex.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no. 941,000, collected in forests at
Xirores, Talamanca, Costa Rica, at an altitude of 100 meters, February,
1895, by A. Tonduz (no. 9329).
In texture the foliage of this species resembles that of Passiflora trisetosa.
The leaves, however, are larger and more elongate, and the central lobe is
much more prominent. The flowers of the two species present certain im-
portant differences. P. talamancensis has a 2-ranked faucial corona, an
erect middle corona, and a globose, softly tomentellous ovary. Passi-
flora trisetosa has a single-ranked faucial corona, an incurved middle corona,
and an ovoid, strigillose ovary.
Passiflora (Granadilla) platyloba Killip, sp. nov.
Stem stout, terete, striate, glabrous; stipules coriaceous, narrowly linear,
1 to 1.2 cm. long, strongly 3-nerved, orange-yellow, deciduous; petioles 6 to
7 cm. long, glabrous, bearing about 2 cm. above the base two sessile, flattened
glands 2 mm. in diameter; leaves suborbicular-ovate in outline, 10 to 14
cm. long, 12 to 18 cm. broad, 3-lobed to the middle (the central lobe broadly
ovate, abruptly acuminate, mucronate, 8 to 9 cm. long, 7 to 8 cm. broad,
the lateral lobes divergent from the midrib at an angle of about 45°), at base
deeply cordate, crenulate or subentire, biglandular in the sinuses, 3 to 5-nerved
membranous, glabrous; peduncles solitary, 6 to 7 cm. long; bracts ovate,
entire, 5 to 6 cm. long, 3 to 4 cm. broad, membranous, attached 1 cm. below
the apex of the petiole, completely enveloping the flower, united for about 2
cm., acute, densely puberulent on both surf aces ; flower purple, 4 to 5 cm. in di-
ameter, the tube 1 cm. long; sepals oblong-lanceolate, 1.8 to 2 cm. long, 0.8
cm. broad, slightly fleshy, obtuse, strongly keeled, the keel terminating in a
JUNE 4, 1922 KILLIP: NEW PASSIFLORAS 261
setaceous awn 5 to 6 mm. long; petals linear-lanceolate, 1.5 to 1.7 cm. long,
0.5 cm. broad, thin, obtuse; filaments of faucial corona in several series, the
outermost slender, filiform, 7 mm. long, the second series stout, liguliform,
attenuate at apex, 1.5 cm. long, white, banded transversely with purple,
the succeeding series of about 6 irregular rows of minute tubercles less than
1 mm. long; middle corona arising at base of the innermost of the latter
rows, 0.75 mm. long, the margin erect, denticulate; secondary middle corona
annular, midway between the preceding and base of gynophore, the margin
entire ; basal corona fleshy, closely surrounding and adnate to the lower part
of g\^nophore, 3 mm. high, the margin free, erect; gynophore stout, grooved,
glabrous, bearing 1 mm. above the margin of the basal corona a single annular
process 0.4 mm. wide; filaments flattened, 7 mm. long, 1.2 mm. wide; anthers
linear, 10 mm. long, 2 mm. broad; ovary elipsoidal, glabrate.
Type in the U. S. National Herbarium, no 678,715, collected at La Blasa
de Rio Grande, Province of Alajuela, Costa Rica, June 2, 1911, by H. Pit-
tier (no. 3653).
This species resembles 3-lobed forms of Passiflora seemanni. Its bracts
are much longer and completely envelop the flower; they are of a thicker
texture, are acute rather than rounded at the apex, and are densely puberu-
lent on both surfaces. The sinuses between the central and the lateral leaf-
lobes are biglandular. In Passiflora platyloha the lower portion of the fau-
cial corona consists of 4 or 5 definite rows of tubercles; in P. seemanni the
tubercles are densely massed, apparently not being arranged in any definite
order.
Passiflora (Granadilla) purpusii Killip, sp. nov.
Stem terete, striate, glabrate; stipules in pairs, foliaceous, semiovate,
rounded at the base, cuspidate, 2.2 to 2.5 cm. long, 1 cm. broad, glabrous,
dark green above, glaucous beneath; petioles 4 to 4.5 cm. long, glabrous,
bearing in the upper half 4 to 6 stipitate glands 1.2 mm. long; leaves ovate, 10
to 13 cm. long, 5 to 9 cm. wide, long-acuminate, entire, shallowly cordate,
membranous, above dark green and glabrous or minutely scabrous on the
nerves, beneath glaucescent, pilosulous or occasionally glabrous, quintu-
plinerved from base; peduncles 3 to 3.5 cm. long, glabrous; bracts free to
the base, ovate-oblong, about 1.5 cm. long, 7 mm. wide, glabrate, dark
green above, glaucous beneath; flowers 4 to 5 cm. wide; sepals lanceolate
or narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 2 cm. long, united at base for a distance of
about 6 mm., cucullate at apex, keeled on the outer surface, the keel termi-
nating in an incurved awn 5 mm. long; petals linear, 1 to 1.2 cm. long,
3 to 4 mm. broad; filaments of faucial corona in about four series, those of
the outermost series narrowly linear, filiform at the tips, 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long,
those of the succeeding series narrowly linear, slightly capitellate, nearly
equal in length, 3 mm. long; middle corona membranous, erect or slightly in-
curved, the upper half cleft into linear threads; secondary middle corona
a minute fleshy ring on the floor of the flower tube, halfway between middle
corona and basal corona ; basal corona membranous, erect, closely surrounding
base of gynophore, 5 mm. high, the margin flaring outward, crenulate; gyno-
phore glabrous, 1.3 to 1.5 cm. long (at anthesis) ; anthers linear, 8 mm. long,
2 mm. broad; ovary ovoid, glabrous; styles 8 mm. long; stigmas reniform;
fruit not seen.
262 JOURNAI, OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
Type in the U S. National Herbarium, no. 877,596, collected at Zacuapan,
Veracruz, Mexico, June, 1916, by C. A. Purpus (no. 7664). Duplicate in
the herbarium of the University of California. Purpus 3689, from the same
locality, is also this species.
Passiflora (Granadilla) williamsii Killip, sp. nov.
Stem stout, terete, minutely puberulent; stipules filiform, 6 to 7 mm.
long; petioles 4.5 cm. long, densely puberulent, biglandular about 1 cm. from
the base, the glands orbicular, appressed, 2 mm. in diameter; leaves broadly
ovate in outline, 10 cm. long, 9 to 10 cm. broad, 3-lobed to middle (lobes acute,
the middle one narrowed at base), serrulate, biglandular in the sinuses, at
base truncate or slightly subcordate, 3-nerved, membranous, the upper
surface glabrate, puberulent on the nerves, the lower surface minutely puberu-
lent; peduncles 3 cm. long, densely pubescent; bracts united at the base, the
free part 2 cm. long, 1.5 cm. broad, tomentulose on both surfaces; flowers about
6 cm. wide, the tube 1.2 cm. long; sepals oblong, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, 1.2 to 1.5
cm. broad, obtuse, puberulent without, glabrate within, inconspicuously keeled,
slender-awned about 2 mm. from the apex, the awn 3 mm. long; petals oblong-
spatulate, 2 cm. long, 5 mm. broad, greenish without, within white, spotted
with dark pink; filaments of faucial corona in several series, the outermost
terete, 6 to 7 mm. long, white, transversely banded with blue, the next
series dilated at the middle, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, the succeeding series minute,
tuberculate, 1.5 mm. high; middle corona arising close to the faucial, mem-
branous, horizontally spreading inward, 2 mm. long, the margin entire,
curved downward; secondary middle corona annular, midway between the
preceding and the base of the gynophore; basal corona fleshy, closely sur-
rounded and adnate to the lower part of the gynophore, 5 mm. high, the
margin free, erect; g)mophore 1.5 to 2 cm. high, 2 mm. in diameter, bearing
about 7 mm. above its base a fleshy annular process 0.5 mm. wide, its margin
recurved; filaments linear-spatulate, flattened, 1.5 mm. broad; anthers ob-
long, obtuse at both ends, 8 mm. long, 3 mm. wide; ovary narrowly ovoid,
densely white-tomentulose ; styles terete, glabrous; stigmas globose, 3 mm.
in diameter.
Type in the herbarium of the New York Botanical Garden, collected at
Bismarck, above Penonome, Panama, altitude 600 to 925 meters, March
5 to 19, 1908, by R. S. WilHams (no. 585). Photograph in the U. S. National
Herbarium.
Passiflora williamsii belongs to the group of the subgenus Granadilla which
is characterized by partially united bracts. From P. seemanni, P. platyloha,
and P. ligularis, the other representatives of this group, it is readily distin-
guished by its leaves, which are truncate or very shallowly cordate at base
and densely puberulent beneath. In the three other species the leaves are
deeply cordate and entirely glabrous.
ZOOLOGY. — New species and subspecies of Sorex from western Amer-
ica^ Hartley H. T. Jackson, Bureau of Biological Survey.
Investigations upon American Soricidae for the United States Bio-
1 Received April 27, 1922.
JUNE 4, 1922 JACKSON: SOREX 263
logical Survey show that in order to indicate properly the relationships
of the various forms of the genus Sorex it is necessary to describe four
new species and subspecies. Inasmuch as completion of my studies
of this genus is now within sight, the descriptions and remarks on these
new forms are here much abbreviated. More detailed descriptions
and discussion of relationships will be presented in the monograph.
Sorex preblei,2 sp. nov.
Type specimen. — No. 208,032, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey
collection; male adult (teeth moderately worn), skin and skull; collected
July 3, 1915, by Edward A. Preble. Original number 5972.
Type locality. — Jordan Valley, altitude 4,200 feet, Malheur County,
Oregon.
Geographic range. — Known only from eastern Oregon.
Diagnostic characters. — Smallest of the western forms of the personatus
group; color paler and more grayish than in Sorex personatus personatus;
hind foot small. Skull relatively flattened, small, with relatively short
rostrum.
Color. — ^Summer pelage: Upperparts between hair-brown^ and olive-drab,
paling on the sides; underparts pale smoke gray very faintly tinged with
cartridge buff. Tail above olive-buff basally, darkening to clove-brown
toward tip ; avellaneous below, darkening apically.
Measurements of type specimen. — -Total length, 95 ; tail vertebrae, 36 ; hind
foot, 11. Skull: Condylobasal length, 14.6; palatal length, 5.4; breadth
of cranium, 7.1; interorbital breadth, 3.1; maxillary breadth, 4.2; maxil-
lary tooth row, 5.1.
Sorex obscurus isolatus, subsp. nov.
Type specimen. — No. 177,719, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey
collection; male adult (teeth moderately worn), skin and skull; collected
May 21, 1911 by F. Alexander Wetmore. Original number 517.
Type locality. — Mouth of Millstone Creek, Nanaimo, Vancouver island,
British Columbia.
Geographic range. — Known only from Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Diagnostic characters. — About the size of Sorex obsctirus obscurus or 5. o.
parvidens, but darker than either, particularly on the ventral parts which
are also decidedly more brownish. Unicuspidate teeth smaller than in obscurus,
and the posterior borders of molariform teeth tending to be more deeply
emarginate.
Color. — Winter pelage : Upperparts nearest chaetura drab mixed with gray-
ish, gradually blending into color of underparts, which are smoke gray tinged
with drab; tail indistinctly bicolor, olive-brown above, buffy brown to almost
tawny-olive below.
Measurements of type specimen. — Total length, 113; tail vertebrae. 49;
hind foot, 14. Skull: Condylobasal length, 17.4; palatal length, 6.6; breadth
of cranium, 8.5; interorbital breadth, 3.5; maxillary breadth, 4.9; maxillary
tooth row, 6.3.
- Named for the collector Mr. Edward A. Preble, friend and coworker, in recognition of
his services and contributions to American mammalogy.
' Colors here used are those of Ridgway, Color standards and color nomenclature, 1912.
264 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOI.. 12, NO. 11
Sorex trigonirostris, sp. nov.
Type specimen. — No. 203,608, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey
collection ; female adult (teeth slightly worn) , skin and skull ; collected May
5, 1914, by Luther J. Goldman. Original number 1308.
Type locality. — Ashland, altitude 1,975 feet, Jackson County, Oregon.
Geographic range. — Known only from near Ashland, Oregon.
Diagnostic characters. — Similar in size and color to Sorex ornatus cali-
fornicus; mastoid region of skull more angular and prominent than in any
other form of the ornatus group ; rostrum shorter and more angular, the sides
less outwardly curved than in calif amicus .
Color. — Summer pelage: Upperparts grayish hair-brown, becoming drab
on the sides; underparts between pale smoke gray and pale olive-gray, very
faintly tinged with pale olive-buff; tail olive-brown above, avellaneous
below nearly to tip.
Measurements of type specimen. — Total length, 95; tail vertebrae, 34;
hind foot, 12. Skull: Condylobasal length, 15.6; palatal length, 5.8; breadth
of cranium, 7.9; interorbital breadth, 3.4; maxillary breadth, 4.5; maxil-
lary tooth row, 5.5.
Sorex trowbridgii humboldtensis, subsp. nov.
Type specimen. — No. 97,271, U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey
collection; male adult (teeth slightly worn), skin and skull; collected June
11, 1899, by Walter K. Fisher. Original number 914.
Type locality. — Carson's Camp, Mad River, Humboldt Bay, Humboldt
County, California.
Geographic range. — Coast region of Humboldt and northern Mendocino
Counties, California.
Diagnostic characters.- — Intermediate in general between Sorex trowbridgii
trowbridgii and 5. t. montereyensis . About the color of Sorex t. trowbridgii, but
tending to be larger, with larger and broader skull and heavier dentition.
Averaging a trifle darker and less brownish than Sorex t. montereyensis, with
relatively longer tail; skull with narrower rostrum and weaker dentition.
Color. — Summer pelage: Upperparts between deep mouse gray and chae-
tura drab or slightly paler; underparts similar in color to dorsal parts,
scarcely if at all paler; tail sharply bicolor, fuscous to chaetura black above,
whitish below.
Measurements of type-specimen. — Total length, 132; tail vertebrae, 62;
hind foot, 14. Skull: Condylobasal length, 17.8; palatal length, 7.2; breadth
of cranium, 8.9; interorbital breadth, 4.1; maxillary breadth, 5.4; maxillary
tooth row, 6.7.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
857th MEETING^
The 857th meeting (the 51st annual meeting) of the Philosophical Society
was held in the Cosmos Club auditorium, December 3, 1921. It was called
1 A report of the 858th meeting was published in this Journal 12: 186-188. 1922.
JUNE 4, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 265
to order at 8:15 p.m. by Vice-President White. Thirty-nine persons were
present.
The report of the Secretaries showed the present active membership of the
Society to be 228, a gain of 15 during the year. The following officers were
elected for the j^ear 1922: President, E. C. Crittenden; Vice-Presidents,
J. A. Fleming and D. L. Hazard; Treasurer, W. R. Gregg; Corresponding
Secretary, C. A. Briggs; M ember s-at-large of the General Committee, H. A.
Marmer and Irwin G. Priest.
At the conclusion of the business of the Annual Meeting , Mr. W. J. Hum-
phreys addressed the Society on the subject of Fogs and clouds. The ad-
dress was illustrated by means of numerous lantern slides, and dealt partic-
ularly with the different kinds of clouds and their methods of formation.
859th meeting
The 859th meeting of the Philosophical Society was held in the Cosmos
Club auditorium, January 14, 1922, with President Crittenden in the chair,
and 65 persons in attendance.
The address of the evening was given by the retiring president, R. L.
Paris, on So'tne problems of the sea. It was discussed by Messrs. Abbott, Mar-
mer, SosMAN, William Bowie, Burgess, Crittenden, and White. It
has been published in full in the Journal of the Washington Academy of
Sciences (12 : 117-132. 1922).
H. H. Kimball, Recording Secretary.
860th meeting
The 860th meeting was held jointly with the Washington Academy op
Sciences at the Cosmos Club, January 28, 1922, President Humphreys of
the Academy presiding. In opening the meeting Dr. Humphreys stated
that the snowfall during the preceding 24 hours had been more than double
that recorded in Washington for any previous 24-hour period. The atten-
dance at the meeting was 21.
Professor L. T. Troland of Harvard University read a paper on Psycho-
physics as the key to the mysteries of physics and metaphysics. This paper has
been printed in full in the Journal of the Washington Academy.^
The paper was discussed by Messrs. Hawksworth, Willl\mson, Sosman,
Priest, Crittenden, Heyl, Foote, H. E. Ives, Tuckerman, and Hum-
phreys. E. C. Crittenden, Recording Secretary, Pro tem.
861st meeting
The 861st meeting was held at the Cosmos Club auditorium, February 11,
1922, with President Crittenden in the chair and 40 persons present. The
following program was given:
Edward Wichers: The purification of certain elements in the platinum
group.
(Author's abstract.) The need for public information on the elements of
the platinum group led the Bureau of Standards to conduct an investigation
of the properties of these elements and their alloys. The precision required
in the determination of physical properties made it necessary to prepare each
of the elements in a state of highest possible purity. These very pure metals
will also be used as material for the study of analytical methods for the plati-
num group.
2 This Journal 12: 141-162. 1922.
266 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
Two methods for the isolation of a chemical individual were discussed.
The first of these is the treatment of a solution containing two elements in
such a way as to obtain a compound of one element with properties char-
acteristically different from the analogous compound of the other element.
An example was drawn from the treatment of a solution containing copper and
silver with hydrochloric acid, forming a very slightly soluble chloride of silver
and a very soluble chloride of copper, thereby permitting the isolation of
silver.
The other method is required when the elements are so nearly alike in
their properties that they react identically with all reagents. This condition
is exemplified by the group of sixteen elements known as the "rare earths."
This group forms complete series of isomorphous salts, and separations be-
tween two (or more) members are usually accomplished by fractional crys-
tallization. In the platinum group either method may be used, although
the former is used more frequently because it is more rapid. However, in
one large platinum refinery, platinum is separated from iridium by the frac-
tional crystallization of the isomorphous salts Na2PtCl6 and Na2lrCl6.
It is also possible by appropriate means to treat solutions of iridium and
platinum in such a way as to reduce iridium from the tetravalent to the
trivalent condition, without appreciably affecting the platinum. Iridium
now behaves as a different chemical individual and its double chloride with
ammonium chloride is quite soluble and not isomorphous with (NH4)2PtCl6.
Such treatment would then effect a very rapid purification of platinum,
except for the phenomena of "co-precipitation," which is very marked in
this whole group of elements. Because of this the precipitate of (NH4)2-
PtCle is contaminated with iridium, and the preparation of platinum in a
high degree of purity is made possible only by several re-precipitates of the
compound named.
In the purification of palladium use is made of the characteristic compound di-
chlorodiammine-palladium-Pd(NH3)2Cl2. For rhodium two salts are used,
the first refining being accomplished by the use of the insoluble salt KsRh-
(N02)6, and the subsequent preparation of chloro-pentamine, rhodium
chloride (Rh(NH3)5Cl)Cl2. For iridium no similar characteristic compound
is known and iridium must be purified by the opposite procedure of remov-
ing other elements from the solution first.
Ruthenium and osmium may be separated from the other platinum ele-
ments through the volatile tetroxides RUO4 and OSO4.
In the case of platinum, palladium and rhodium, it is to be noted that in
each case a salt is chosen which may be ignited directly to metal, leaving
no other nonvolatile constituents.
Brief mention was made of the work done on the precautions necessary
to avoid contamination in the melting of the purified platinum sponge.
C. O. Fairchild: Thermo-electric tests for the purity of some metals (illus-
trated) .
(Author's abstract.) The thermo-electric test is performed by making a
thermocouple of two metals and measuring its e. m. f . at a known temperature ;
for example two pieces of gold from different sources may be compared at
the melting point of gold. If the thermal e. m. f . is large, one or both of the sam-
ples are quite impure. If the e. m. f . is small then time is well spent in further
study of the samples. The test is particularly suited to comparing metals of
the highest purity, containing only spectroscopic traces of one or a very few
metals.
JUNE 4, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 267
Knowledge of the thermoelectric effect of small traces of impurities is
limited. A thermoelectric difference is irrefutable evidence of difference of
the two metals. (These should be carefully annealed so that the physical
condition is constant.) No difference, that is a negative result, raises doubt.
Perhaps more than one impurity gives opposite effects.
Special study has been made of pure platinum, pure gold and pure palladium,
the purity being of the highest order. In the three cases the purest samples
as selected by other tests have been the most negative thermoelectrically.
As an illustration of the magnitude of the e. m. f 's. afforded by traces of impurity,
two pieces of platinum one spectroscopically free of any detectable impurity
and one indicating the faintest trace of calcium (or lime) as an impurity,
gave a thermal e. m. f. of about twenty micro-volts at 1200° C. Probably
there is a very wide variation in the effect of constant amount of different
impurities.
As a beginning, a series of platinum rhodium alloys, containing respec-
tively 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1.0% of rhodium were made. Spec-
troscopic examination gave no evidence of impurity. The e. m. f . of each alloy
against platinum at 1083° C. was measured. It was found that the e. m. f. was
proportional to the rhodium content up to about 1.0%. The accuracy of
the whole procedure, including the synthesis and electrical measurement,
was =i= 4 microvolts from strict proportionality. All these alloys are pos-
itive to platinum. This is not the case with gold-palladium alloys which
will be tried next to show whether or not the thermoelectric effect of a trace
of an impurity is the same in sign as the two metals of the alloy. Is 99.999%
Pd-.001% Au positive to palladium?
W. F. Meggers : Spectrographic tests for the purity of some metals (illus-
trated) .
(Author's abstract.) In connection with the purification of certain
elements in the platinum group carried out by Dr. Wichers at the Bureau of
Standards, spectrographic analysis was employed to indicate the progress of
purification and to detect the traces of impurities present in the final product.
The metals were vaporized and ionized in a high potential electrical spark
with capacity and self -inductance in the circuit. Alloys or mixtures of ele-
ments made luminous in this source give, simultaneously, the spectra of all
the elements present and these spectra are recorded photographically with
the aid of a quartz or a concave grating spectrograph. If one observes the
spectra of a series of mixtures in which one element is progressively diluted
it is seen that the spectrum of this element becomes simplified, more and more
lines disappear, as the dilution increases, until a single line remains faintly
visible when a mere trace of the element is present. These most sensitive
lines were called "raies ultimes" by de Gramont^ to whom much credit is
due for developing the principles of this method of analysis.
The raies ultimes are exceptionally sensitive for all metals and remain visi-
ble when the concentration of an element in an alloy or mixture is even less
than 0.0001 per cent. A trained observer after studying the partial spectra
of carefully prepared standard samples can apply this information to making
rapid and fairly accurate quantitative analyses of similar alloys of unknown
percentage composition. The empirical basis for such spectrographic tests has
been developed at the Bureau of Standards, especially for the analysis of
mint gold and of platinum metals. Some of the physical constants of metals,
3 DE Gramont. Ann. Chim. et Phys. VIII, 17: 437. 1909.
268 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
particularly the thermal electro-motive force and thermal coefficient of elec-
trical resistance, are sensitive even to spectroscopic traces of impurities. The
spectograph showed that when the purest platinum sponge was fused on
lime or magnesia it was usually contaminated with traces of calcium and mag-
nesium but when fused on thoria no impurities could be detected. With the
aid of this method of spectrographic analysis platinum metal has been pre-
pared which is positively 99.9999 per cent pure.
Discussion of the three papers was participated in by Messrs. Burgess,
White, Foote, L. H. Adams, Harper, and Humphreys.
862d meeting
The 862d meeting of the Philosophical Society was held in the Cosmos
Club auditorium, February 25, 1922, with President Crittenden in the
chair and 54 persons present. The program was as follows :
R. S. Woodward: The calculus of harmonics and preharmonics and their
application in hydromechanics. It was discussed by Mr. L. A. Bauer.
(Author's abstract.) A harmonic function, H, is defined to be any homo-
geneous function of x, y, z, which satisfies Laplace's equation. That is,
H is a harmonic if
dW dW dW ^
'dx^ by"^ bz^
This equation is now, for brevity, commonly written
^m = 0, or ^H = o.
and the operation thus symbolized is called the Laplacian of H.
Conformable to these definitions, a preharmonic function, P, is defined to
be any homogeneous function of x, y, z which satisfies the equations
A^P = H, AWP = AW = 0.
Corresponding to every harmonic function, therefore, there is a prehar-
monic function determined by the integral of the first of the last two equa-
tions; and since there is an extensive range of harmonic functions, of which
the degrees may be positive or negative integers, or fractional or imaginary
numbers, there is a coextensive range of preharmonic functions.
While harmonic functions have been investigated in elaborate detail, it
does not appear that much attention has been given to the intimately re-
lated functions here called preharmonics. It was the object of the paper to
outline the characteristics of these functions and the calculus to which they
lead, as well as to indicate some of their more important applications. Gen-
eral formulas for all of the preharmonics corresponding to all the harmonics
of positive and negative integral degrees were given.
L. A. Bauer: Some results of recent earth-current observations (illus-
trated) .
(Author's abstract.) Renewed interest was aroused by the remarkable
earth-current disturbances of May 14 to May ,30, 1921, which, as will be re-
called, occurred simultaneously with brilliant displays of polar lights and
severe magnetic storms, the sun at the time showing remarkable spot ac-
tivity. These disturbances and accompanying phenomena occurred over
the entire earth. Northern lights were observed in lower northerly lati-
tudes than usual and southern lights were observed as far north in the South-
ern hemisphere as Apia, Samoa — a very unusual occurence. In many re-
spects the disturbances during the period. May 14 to 20, 1921 were similar to
JUNE 4, 1922 proceedings: PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 269
those which occurred during the period, x-Vugust 29 to Sept. 4, 1859; in
this latter case, northern Hghts were visible as low as 18° north. The mag-
netic disturbances for the latter period were of almost unexampled size
and rapidity, the accompanying aurora being extraordinarily brilliant and
e. m. f 's. of 700 to 800 volts are said to have been reached on telegraph lines
500 to 600 km.
Since Oersted's discovery somewhat over a century ago of the deflection of
a compass needle by an electric current, hypotheses have been repeatedly
advanced respecting the earth's magnetic field as caused by electric currents
in the earth's crust. However, most of the earth-current observations made
up to the present date indicate that the constant part of the observed current
along a parallel of latitude is chiefly towards the east, instead of towards the
west, as would be necessary to account for the observed phenomena of the
magnetic needle.
At the International Electric Congress, held in Paris in 1881, such in-
terest was aroused that systematic investigation of earth currents, es-
pecially as observed in telegraph lines, was undertaken in various countries.
This material was furnished for Weinstein's well-known publication in which
data obtained on two telegraph lines (Berlin to Thorn and Berlin to Dresden)
from 1884 to 1887, were successfully utilized.
Unfortunately, the interest then aroused has waned and, as far as known,
there is at present only one observatory where systematic earth current ob-
servations are being made, namely, at the Observatorio del Ebro, Tortosa,
Spain, where the series of observations began in 1910. The speaker proposes
to arouse renewed interest in this important subject at the forthcoming
Rome meeting of the International Geodetic and Geophysical Union.
The Department of Terrestrial Magnetism is planning to install earth-
current lines for systematic observations at its magnetic observatories.
This year, it is hoped that such lines may be installed at the Department's
Observatory at Watheroo, Western Australia. Various initial investigations
have been in progress at the Department's Laboratory and Dr. Mauchly made
a report to our Society some years ago. To Mr. O. H. Gish, appointed re-
cently as Associate Physicist of the Department, has been assigned the
continuation of these investigations. Furthermore, in order to take ad-
vantage of the experience in such work gained at the observatory in Spain
and to ascertain the direction in which further study is desirable, a discus-
sion of the eleven-year series at the observatory mentioned was undertaken
under the direction of the speaker.
Slides were shown exhibiting the relations between variations of earth-
currents, especially of the diurnal variations, and solar activity during the
eleven years cycle. The relations between the diurnal variations of earth-
currents and those of the earth's magnetic elements were also briefly discussed.
It would appear that the relations are of a rather complicated character.
863d meeting
The 863d meeting was held at the Cosmos Club March 11, 1922, with
President Crittenden in the chair and 70 persons present.
William Bowie: The yielding of the earth' s crust (iDustrated) . It was dis-
cussed by Messrs. Washington and Hayford.
(Author's abstract.) The theory of isostasy postulates that blocks of the
crust of the earth are in equilibrium. The investigations carried on by the
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Trigonometrical Survey of India
270 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
lead us to believe that the theory of isostasy is substantially true and that the
amount of matter in blocks of the crust of equal cross section at the depth
of compensation is very nearly equal in various parts of the earth.
Since the earth's crust is in hydrostatic or isostatic equilibrium now it is
a logical conclusion that it has been so during the earlier geological periods
and therefore we must conclude that movements within the earth's crust which
are recorded in geological strata and structures did not materially increase
the amount of matter in any block of the crust.
There are four rather distinct movements of material within the earth's
crust or at its surface. First the transportation of material by wind and water
from one place to another over the surface. Second, a downward movement
of the material of the earth's crust under the area of sedimentation, some of
this movement being due to a yielding under the load of the sediment and the
remainder to thermal contraction and a contraction due to physical or chem-
ical action. Third, a movement below the earth's crust, in a more or less
horizontal direction, of material which is yielding to long continued horizon-
tal stress. This material flows from the block of the earth's crust on which
sediments are placed toward the block from whose surface material was
eroded. The fourth is the upward movement of the material in a block of
the earth's crust under the area of erosion. As the material is eroded from
the surface, the isostatic balance is restored by the entering of material at the
bottom of the block, thus causing the block to rise.
It seems to be reasonably certain that mountain systems are caused by
a vertical uplift due to local causes rather than to horizontal thrusts result-
ing from forces acting from great distances. The distortions of sedimentary
rocks which are visible in most elevated regions appear to be incidents to the
sinking of an area under sedimentation and to subsequent uplifting of the
area. As an area once subject to sedimentation is uplifted, and since this
uplift must be a result of a change in density within the block, the upward
movement would follow lines of least resistance. The direction of such lines
would frequently be inclined to the vertical and at times be almost or quite
horizontal.
The change in density in a block of the earth's crust which has undergone
heavy sedimentation may be due to the fact that the material of the block has
been pushed down into regions hotter than that originally occupied. The shrink-
ing and increase of density of a block under an area of erosion may be due to
the fact that many thousands of feet of material had been eroded, thus re-
sulting in the raising of the material of the block below the area into regions
that were much cooler than that which the material had originally occupied.
This change in temperature, which may be as much as 200 or 300 degrees
Centigrade, may cause a thermal contraction as well as an increase in density
due to physical or chemical changes other than the thermal expansion.
It is certain that the theory of isostasy must be taken into consideration
in geological investigations, especially those having to do with dynamic and
structural geology.
H. V. Sverdrup: The scientific work of the present Amundsen Arctic Expe-
dition (illustrated). It was discussed by Messrs. Marmer and Beall.
(Author's abstract.) Captain Amundsen's Expedition left Norway
in July, 1918, with the intention to follow the coast of Siberia eastward to the
vicinity of Bering Strait, proceed thence towards the north, let the vessel,
the "Maud," freeze in and drift with the ice fields across the Polar Seas back
JUNE 4, 1922 PROCEEDINGS : PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 271
to the Atlantic Ocean. The main object of the Expedition was to study the
physical conditions of the Polar Sea, but along with the oceanographical work,
a number of other observations, mostly of geophysical interest, were to be
carried out. However, the Expedition was forced by the ice conditions to
winter three times in different places on the coast of Siberia.
The first wintering took place close to Cape Chelyuskin, the north point
of the Asiatic continent. During this winter, registrations of the meteoro-
logical elements, the magnetic declination and the tides were secured. A
tidal gage, adapted to the special conditions met with, was made on board.
Numerous direct observations were also made. The difficulties in observ-
ing at low temperatures did not arise so much from the effect of the cold upon
the observer, who could dress conveniently, as from the effects upon the in-
struments, particularly the inevitable formation of frost upon eye-pieces and
verniers. In the spring the Chelyuskin Peninsula was explored on sledge
trips covering over 1000 miles.
When leaving Cape Chelyuskin, Captain Amundsen decided to send all
observations home with two men, who were to bring them to the nearest
settlement, a Russian wireless station at Dickson Island. These men lost
their lives. All records from the self -registering instruments are lost with
them, but copies of all absolute observations exist.
The second wintering took place at Ayon Island, 700 miles west of Bering
Strait. The speaker spent the winter among the natives, a group of the
Chukchi tribe, gathering information of ethnological interest. Magnetic
observations were taken at a series of stations from Kolyma River to Bering
Strait, and meteorological and tidal registrations and observations were
kept up on board the "Maud."
After a call at Nome in July, 1920, the "Maud" was frozen in for the third
time, only 80 miles west of Bering Strait. During the winter, additional
information about the natives was secured on a two and one-half month's
sledge trip along the coast; the series of magnetic stations was extended to
Holy Cross Bay, and registrations were kept up on board.
In the summer of 1921, the vessel of the Expedition had to be sailed to
Seattle for repairs. Capt. Amundsen intends to start out from Seattle
in June, 1922, and will once more try to penetrate to the drifting ice fields in
order to accomplish the drift across the Polar Sea.
864th meeting
The 864th meeting was held at the Cosmos Club March 25, 1922, with
President Crittenden in the chair, and 35 persons in attendance.
The President announced that the Recording Secretary expected to be
absent from Washington until July, 1922, and that Mr. H. A. Marmer had
been designated to act as Secretary pro tern during this period. Program:
C. O. Fairchii.d and W. H. Hoover: A disappearing filament optical py-
rometer free from diffraction effects at the filament (illustrated, presented by
Mr. Fairchild). It was discussed by Messrs. Crittenden and Humphreys.
(Author's abstract.) This pyrometer consists of a telescope or microscope
in the focal plane of which is a small electric lamp. To estimate tempera-
ture of an object, its brightness is matched with that of the lamp filament by
adjusting the current through the lamp. An equation such as I = a + bt
-f- ct^ may be used to interpret current values.
For measuring high temperatures this pyrometer is particularly suited, but
one of its supposed faults, and a source of uncertainty in its accuracy, has
272 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
been the effect of diffraction of the light f ocussed in the plane of the filament,
by the filament.
A rigorous solution of the problem of diffraction by an obstacle in the focal
plane has not been attempted. It can be shown by deduction that only the
light diffracted by the objective aperture is again diffracted by the filament;
while the undiflfracted portion of the converging beam passes the filament un-
disturbed. To avoid a visible effect of diffraction the filament and image
are viewed through an aperture smaller than the objective in angular meas-
ure. The actual values of the entrance and exit apertures of the telescope
depend on various factors. Large entrance apertures must be used.
As a result of improvements in the design of this optical pyrometer, the
precision attainable has been markedly increased, now surpassing, probably,
that of the contrast photometer. High temperatures are easily estimated
to fractions of a degree, far within the limits of certainty of the so-called
high temperature scale. The disadvantage lying in the use of the optical
scale founded on the Wien-Planck laws, instead of the radiation scale of
Stefan-Boltzman laws, is balanced by the extreme ease of manipulation
and high precision attainable. However, the lack of agreement between
the different scales of temperature is at present not great, nor serious, and has
been found negligible for most purposes.
A form of micropyrometer has been devised for measuring the temperature
of a microscopic or very small object with the same precision as with large
objects. For example a small lamp filament or a minute black-body fur-
nace can be examined.
The writers believe that significant progress has been made toward placing
this form of optical pyrometer in sound relation with the laws of geometrical
and physical optics, and in developing an instrument of precision.
S. P. Fergusson : Equipment for aerological kite-Hying at the greatest possible
heights (illustrated). It was discussed by Messrs. L. H. Adams, Crittenden,
Humphreys and Tuckerman.
(Author's abstract.) With kites and accessories in use at the present time
the average heights attained are about 3500 meters and the maximum about
7000. From an experimental study of materials, forms of kites, methods of
construction, lines, etc., the author has found that these heights can be in-
creased considerably if the largest kites and the largest sizes of wire for lines
are used. Large kites are more economical and are so much stronger than
smaller ones of nearly the same specific weight that there is no danger of
wrecking a kite in the strongest wind likely to be encountered aloft; also
they are steadier and more stable and since their specific weight when car-
rying the usual recording instruments is smaller, ascensions are possible
through a wider range of conditions. By the use of curved lifting-surfaces
the average altitudes can be increased to about 64°, or nearly S° higher than
that attained by kites with flat surfaces, and curved-surfaced kites will main-
tain a higher altitude in strong winds.
A new method of building kites was described whereby the time and cost of
constructing aerological kites is less than one half that required to produce
kites of the usual patterns and the processes of adjustment and repairing
greatly simplified.
With kites and accessories described in which harmful resistances have been
reduced to the lowest point easily attainable, ascensions may be extended to
a greater average height than has been possible heretofore with less labor and
JUNE 4, 1922 proceedings: entomological society 273
smaller risk to valuable apparatus; also, by taking advantage of favorable
conditions, it appears possible to reach the level of the cirrus clouds, and the
base of the stratosphere, or a maximum height of approximately 10,000
metres. H. H. Kimball, Recording Secretary.
ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY
34 1st meeting
The 341st regular meeting was held June 2, 1921, in Room 43 of the
National Museum with First Vice-president Gahan in the chair, and 16 mem-
bers and 6 visitors present.
The program consisted entirely of Notes and exhibition of specimens.
Dr. L. O. Howard spoke of the Hessian fly parasite Entedon epigontis.
An attempt was made to introduce this species into the United States thirty
or more years ago. It was recovered by Forbes the second year later and by
AsHMEAD seven years later, but had apparently disappeared thereafter. It
is now breeding abundantly in three localities.
Dr. Howard also told of having attended a recent meeting of the American
Entomological Society in Philadelphia and spoke in high praise of a talk
given at the meeting by Morgan Hebard on a trip to Colombia.
A. B. Gahan expressed doubt if the presence of Etendon epigonus is due to
the artificial introduction, pointing out that it has ample opportunities to
be introduced accidentally.
A. N. Caudell recorded the finding in Washington of two masses of eggs
of the praying mantis, Ptenodera chinensis. Mr. Rohwer stated that he
had liberated some in Falls Church, Virginia, and that they had disappeared
after a few days and none had been found since.
H. S. Barber discussed a new strawberry pest discovered at Miami,
Florida, by Mr. MoznETTE. This is a bluish green weevil of the genus
Atypus. E. A. ScHWARZ discussed the confusion of names in this genus,
which is common to the West Indies and the southeastern part of the United
States as far north as New Jersey. S. A. Rohwer spoke of Hymenoptera
common to both regions, and stated that variation is greater in Porto Rico
than in Cuba or the United States. A. B. Gahan mentioned the bracoinid
Apanieles grenadensis Ashm. (synonym, A. harnedi Vier.), a parasite of
Laphygma frugiperda. This species occurs in the West Indies, Brazil, and
in the United States as far north as Tennessee. Mr. Caudell stated that
certain Orthoptera known to occur in Florida and Costa Rica do not occur in
the West Indies. Mr. Schwarz stated that there was formerly a land
connection between the West Indies and Yucatan.
R. A. Cushman spoke of the synonymy of certain species of Amblyteles,
which synonymy was proved by the introduction of the species into Hawaii
and their subsequent recovery.
C. T. Greene announced the return by Dr. Felt of the National Museum
material of Itonididae. This consists of 775 slides embracing 71 genera and
267 species, 174 being type material. There is also determined the work of
40 species.
A. N. Caudell exhibited a copy of the very rare paper by Kelch, Grund-
lage zur Kenntniss der Orthoptera Oberschlesiens, in which appeared for the first
time some of Fibber's genera. He also spoke of the value to the working
entomologist of a well catalogued library of separates.
274 JOURNAI, Olf THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
W. B. Wood told of the finding at the inspection house of a living larva of
the pink boll worm in wild cotton from India. This cotton has small seeds
and the larva was working from the outside. Mr. Barber stated that the
insect feeds in the same way on okra seed.
Dr. Howard told of the death by suicide of the Russian Entomologist
KjURDUMOV.
S. A. RoHWER spoke of a paper by Prof. CockerEll on the Bees of Ma-
deira. Madeira originally had no bee fauna and all the present species are
related to the Palearctic forms.
342nd meeting
The 342nd meeting was held October 6, 1921, at the National Museum,
with First Vice-president Gahan in the chair and 28 members and 10 vis-
itors present.
J. M. Aldrich: Collecting in Alaska.
Dr. Aldrich gave an account, illustrated by lantern slides, of his summer's
collecting in Alaska, during which he traversed the entire length of the gov-
ernment railway. He also described the differences in climate, topography
and flora of the various parts of the road, and mentioned some of the more in-
teresting insects, especially Diptera, that he captured. He commented es-
pecially upon the great abundance of mosquitoes and the apparent absence
of the house fly.
Notes and exhibition of specimens
Dr. J. M. Aldrich exhibited photographs of two series of exuvia of larvae
of the museum pest, Trogoderma iarsale, one showing the decrease in size from
instar to instar in starved larvae, and the other showing the successive in-
stars of a single larva that had been alternately starved and fed for nine years
During this period it had three times attained maximum size and twice de-
creased practically to first instar size.
A. N. Caudell read a note from his entomological journal recording his
observations on a specimen of the psammocharid wasp, Anoplius illinoiensis
Robertson. This wasp was apparently bathing, during the operation de-
scending into the water to the depth of three inches and walking on the bottom.
R. A. St. George gave some phenological records on cerambycids in com-
parison with plant events in 1921. The season in this respect was as a whole
abnormal, but especially in two species, Neoclytus erythrocephalus and Xylo-
trechus colonus, each of which passed through two generations instead of the
normal one generation.
Dr. A. L. Quaintance exhibited apples from Wenatchee, Washington,
injured by the pear leaf blister mite.
A. B. Gahan spoke of having recently received a specimen of Pac/z^^cr^-
poideus dubius Ashm., a chalcid parasite of diptera, reared from the cheese
skipper, Piophila casei. This is the first record of a parasite of this species
of which he had heard.
J. C. Bridwell exhibited living specimens of the Bethylid, Sclerodermus
macrogastcr, and briefly outlined the habits of members of the genus, which
live gregariously on insect larvae, feeding both as larva and as adult on the
juices of the host.
R. A. CusHMAN, Recording Secretary.
JUNE 4, 1922 proceedings: botanical society 275
BOTANICAL SOCIETY
155th meeting
The Botanical Society held its 155th regular meeting at the Cosmos Club,
on December 6, 1921, with President Safford in the chair.
Prof. David Lumsden and Mr. Fred C. Meier were elected members
of the Society.
A communication was received from Mr. C. R. Ball in reference to an
autograph letter from Henry MuhlEnburg, the noted botanist, written
September 25, 1809 to Dr. John Ott at Georgetown, D. C, enclosing a list
of 195 species of plants apparently collected by Dr. Ott in the vicinity of
Washington, D. C.
The Secretary then read a letter from Mr. Shapovalov and one from Dr.
L. R. Jones of the National Research Council, to the effect that the movement
fostered by the Botanical Society to secure American scientific literature for
Russian scientists had met with success, and the National Research Council
approved this project and had appropriated $1,000 to carry out the plan.
Mr. Shapovalov's efforts as a committee of one from the Botanical Society
to the Washington Academy of Sciences to consider sending literature to
Russian scientists have come to a successful end and he desires to terminate
his appointment.
Under Brief notes and reviews of literature Dr. Sh.\ntz presented the second
volume of Burgerstein's work on transpiration. This brings the review of
literature down to 1920.
Mr. M. B. Waite told of seeing specimens of Myrica carolinensis collected
near Camp Meade. Dr. Fairchild stated that a specimen of Myrica rubra
from China collected by Mr. Frank Meyer fruited at Chico, California and at
Brooksville, Florida. This species represents a large fruit industry in China.
The regular program was as follows:
F. Wilson Popenoe: Hunting new plants for American horticulture in
the highlands of Central and South America (illustrated).
For some years the Ofhce of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the
Bureau of Plant Industry has been engaged in studying the wild and cultivated
avocados of tropical America, and in introducing the most promising ones
for trial in California and Florida. In both these States avocado culture
is now established on a commercial basis, and the demand for new varieties
of this fruit, to fill certain needs such as different seasons of ripening, is keen.
The two years' exploration reviewed in this talk covered the most impor
tant avocado-growing regions between Guatemala and Chile. In the former
country, where 16 months' work had already been done in 1916-1917, a large
quantity of avocado seeds of known parentage was obtained for use in pro-
ducing stock-plants on which to graft superior varieties of this fruit. In
Costa Rica several promising kinds were obtained and sent to Washington,
also seeds of the aguacate de anis, a wild avocado of considerable interest.
In Colombia a study was made of the numerous avocados found in the Santa
Marta regions, as well as those of Cundinamarca and the Cauca Valley; and
one variety was sent to the United States for trial. In Ecuador a number of
very choice forms were found in a region hitherto unknown as a producer of
good avocados. A brief study was made of the various sorts which grow in
Peru and Chile, but none was found worthy of introduction into the United
States.
276 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 11
In addition to avocados, numerous other economic plants were investigated,
and propagating material of the most promising was sent to Washington.
In Guatemala a thousand plants were obtained of the pacayito, a handsome
dwarf Chamaedorea suitable for house culture; seeds and plants of several
wild blackberries were collected, as well as seeds of the handsome Dahlia
maxonii and other plants.
In Costa Rica a particular study was made of the pejihaye palm {Guilielma
utilis) , and a quantity of seeds was secured ; seeds of several interesting species
of Rubus, and other plants, were likewise sent to Washington.
In Colombia many interesting and little-known plants were studied. Per-
haps the most striking is Rubus macrocarpus, the giant Colombian Berry,
of which plants were sent to Washington.
From Ecuador were sent many varieties of the potato, including the wild
form; a cultivated variety of Fragaria chiloensis; a large-fruited form of
Prunus salicifolia; several varieties of Ruh^is glaucus, R. adenotrichos, and
other species of Rubus; several hardy Caricas, and other plants.
From Chile were sent numerous aphis-resistant varieties of the apple;
several peaches, plums and cherries of Chilean origin ; three cultivated forms
of Fragaria chiloensis; and the Capuchine orange, a dwarf variety of Citrus
sinensis.
Louis C. C. Krieger: A sketch of the history of mycological illustration
{Higher Fungi).
The development of the methods employed in mycological illustrating was
traced from the time of Clusius (1601) to Boudier (1910). It was pointed out
that truthful illustrations add much to the completeness of the record of so
perishable a plant as a fleshy fungus.
Clusius was taken as the starting-point of the historical sketch for the reason
that his illustrations (especially the original water-colors from which the
wood-cuts in Clusius' work were made, which have recently been published
by Istvanffi) are the first truthful figures available to the mycological sys-
tematist, those of the herbalists, prior to Clusius, often showing fanciful
embellishments.
The gradual development of the technical processes, from wood-engraving
through copper-engraving, lithography, half-tone, heliogravure, and tri-
color printing, was described by the speaker, illustrations from the classic
works of Schaeffer, Bulliard, Letellier, Sowerby, Greville, Fries, Tulasne,
and Boudier, serving as examples of the progress in technique.
In concluding his remarks, Mr. Krieger spoke of the dearth of published
colored illustrations of American origin, and the hope was expressed that
Dr. Howard A. Kelly, of Baltimore (with whom Mr. Krieger is associated in
mycological work) might succeed in publishing an illustrated revision of the
late Prof. Peck's monographs.
This paper, with suitable illustrations, is to be published elsewhere in full
The address was illustrated by lantern slides as well as by copies of several
rare mycological books, and by a score or more of Mr. Krieger' s own artistic
studies of some of the higher fungi.
Roy G. Pierce, Recording Secretary.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS
The National Academy of Sciences held its annual meeting in Washington
on April 24, 25, and 26. The scientific sessions open to the public were held
JUNE 4, 1922 SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS 277
in the Museum auditorium on the first two days of the meeting. Among the
members of the Smithsonian staff who read papers were Secretary CD. Wal-
coTT, The new building of the National Academy and National Research
Council; Dr. L. O. Howard, A side effect from the importation of parasites of
injurious insects; Dr. AlES Hrdlicka, Stature amd head form in Americans
of old families ; Austin H. Clark, Animal evolution; Dr. Abbot, Mr. Fowle,
and Mr. Aldrich, The larger results of 20 years of solar radiation observations.
The third International Conference on Chemistry will be held at Lyon,
France, June 27- July 2, 1922, under the direction of the Federation Nationale
des Associations de Chimie de France. It will be followed by the second con-
gress of industrial chemistry, organized by the Societe de Chimie Tndus-
trielle, at Marseilles from July 2 to 7.
The Smithsonian Institution has recently made arrangements for the resump-
tion of exchange relations with Roumania, the Institutal Meteorologic Cen-
tral, Ministerul Agriculturei, Bukharest, having offered to act ar the Rouman-
ian Agency. The Institution is now sending exchange consignments to all
foreign countries except Jugoslavia, Russia, and Turkey. The following
newly established governments are included among these to which shipments
are being forwarded: Czechoslovakia, Esthonia. Finland, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland.
The United States National Museum has recently secured by purchase,
through the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture,
the large private herbarium of Dr. Otto Buchtien, formerly Director of the
Museo Nacional, La Paz, Bolivia, built up by him through many years of
botanical exploration in South America and through exchanges with insti-
tutions in many parts of the world. The herbarium consists of approxi-
mately 45,000 specimens, and is notable for its large proportion of tropical
American species, particularly of the floras of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and
Paraguay.
Among the delegates to the meeting of the International Geophysical Union
at Rome are Drs. L. A. Bauer, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism,
Carnegie Institution of Washington; Henry S. Washington, Geophysical
Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington; William Bowie, Coast
and Geodetic Survey; G. W. LittlEhalES, Hydrographic Observatory;
and H. H. Kimball, Weather Bureau.
The Alaskan Mineral Resources Division of the U. S. Geological Survey
has been raised to a Branch, and Mr. A. H. Brooks is now designated the
Chief Alaskan Geologist.
A shipment of material collected in the Province of Fukien, southeastern
China, has recently been received from Arthur deC. Sowerby. It contains
many birds and animals not previously represented in the National Museum.
This is the first shipment received from Mr. Sowerby from southeastern
China, a section of the country from which the Museum has very little ma-
terial. Through Mr. Sowerby' s previous work the mammal fauna from
northern China is now very well represented in the Museum, making this
South China material of special interest.
Eighteen of the ornithologists of Washington met at the home of B. H.
Swales on March 14, 1922, for the purpose of organizing an ornithological
club. As it was the intention at the start to meet at members' homes for
informal social intercourse, the number had necessarily to be restricted, and
twenty-five was fixed as the limit and only men primarily interested in birds
considered. Dr. T. S. Palmer was named temporary chairman and upon
278 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO, 11
vote it was decided to call the society the "Baird Club." Dr. A. K. Fisher
was elected president, Ned Hollister, vice-president, and B. H. Swales,
secretary.
The Archives of the Bureau of American Ethnology have been enriched
through a gift from W. B. Cabot, of Boston, of a collection of about 3,700
Algonquian names with their variations in spelling. These names for the
most part are not found in Lithgow's Algonquian dictionary.
The meeting of the Petrologists' Club at the home of H. G. Ferguson on
February 14 was devoted to a discussion of West Indian petrology. W. S.
BuRBANK and H. S. Washington discussed the rocks of Haiti : F. H. Moffit,
those of Cuba; and C. P. Ross, those of Santo Domingo. H. S. Washing-
ton described the chemical and physical properties of some Central American
jades which are of archeological as well as petrological interest.
A meeting of the Pick and Hammer Club was held on Saturday, March 25,
at the Geological Survey, with the following program: J. S. Brown: Unusual
springs in the Republic of Haiti; F. W. Clark : The composition of surface
waters of the United States with respect to _areal geology and climate, and the
interpretation of the latter factors from water analyses.
S. R. Capper, geologist in the U. S. Geological Survey, has been fur-
loughed for a year to do commercial work abroad for an American company.
William T. Carrigan, one of the senior assistants in the Nautical Almanac
Office, U. S. Naval Observatory, died at Washington, D. C, on January 20,
1922. He assisted in the research work carried on by the late Prof. Simon
Newcomb, and published a number of papers on astronomy.
Charles Henry Davis, 2nd, Rear Admiral, retired, U. S. Navy, twice
Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, died at Washington, D. C, Decem-
ber 27, 1921. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1S64, and from 1875
till 1885 was engaged principally in astronomical work, at first in the Naval
Observatory at Washington, in the Department of Chronometers, and then
in expeditions for the determination of longitudes by means of the sub-
marine cables. His publications refer chiefly to the results of such work in
various parts of the world.
George R. Davis, Topographic Engineer in charge of the Pacific Division
of the U. S. Geological Survey, died on March 31, and Mr. T. G. Gerdine has
been put in charge of that division, including Hawaii.
Miss Frances Densore, collaborator of the Bureau of American
Ethnology in Indian music, has collected during the past winter 101 Yuma,
40 Cocopa, and 10 Mohave songs in addition to other important musical
material. Among the most important novelties are remarkable observations
on a "Memorial," or cremation ceremony held annually by the Mohaves
over those who have died during the year.
Neil M. Judd, Curator of American Archeology, left for New Mexico
on May 1 to resume direction of the National Geographic vSociety's Pueblo
Bonito Expedition. During Mr. Judd's absence John L. Baer will again
serve as Acting Curator of American Archeology.
Dr. William M. Mann has returned from his South American trip, in
which he was Director of the Mulford Biological Exploration on the upper
Amazon for several months. He brought back over a hundred live animals
and extensive collections of many kinds, especially of insects.
Mr. Glenn S. Smith has been assigned charge of the Rocky Mountain
Division of the U. S. Geological Survey. He will also retain supervision of
the Division of West Indian Surveys.
JOURNAL
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. 12 June 19, 1922 No. 12
OCEANOGRAPHY. — The applications of science and engineering
in the work of the United States Lighthouse Service.'^ George R.
Putnam, Lighthouse Service, Department of Commerce.
The Lighthouse Service has a definite function to perform, the pro-
viding of marks or signals to guide vessels in their proper course and
to keep them away from danger. In performing this duty it makes
extensive use of apparatus and appliances developed through scien-
tific research, and of structures, both on land and afloat, in many cases
involving difficult engineering problems. The aids, over 16,000 in
number, are either on unfixed or floating structures, slightly more than
half being floating. As to character, they fall into three general groups,
lights, fog signals, and daymarks, though many aids combine these
three functions or two of them.
Lighthouses and other lighted aids. — Though in many respects the
fog signals are the aids most needed by the mariner, yet the lights
are the more numerous and more widely known marks, and their de-
velopment will be first described.
The outermost lights are those of the outside lightships, which are
in effect floating lighthouses anchored off the coast and in the ap-
proaches to the great seaports. These are few in number, only 22
for the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific coasts, but they are the guides most
used by the larger class of vessels, as they can run directly for these
lightships without risk of stranding if somewhat off in reckoning. An
example is the Nantucket light vessel, anchored 41 miles off the land;
this is the mark for which most of the vessels crossing the north At-
lantic direct their course westward bound. There are now also a num-
ber of large sea gas buoys anchored off the coast and entrances.
The primary coast lights are the principal lighthouses marking prom-
inent headlands, offlying islands and rocks, important entrances, and
some intermediate points. On a well lighted coast these primary
1 Address delivered at the Bureau of vStandards, May 5, 1922. Received May 15, 1922.
279
280 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
lights are so spaced that a vessel skirting the coast will always be in
sight of one of these lights.
There are a great number of smaller lights, such as gas buoys mark-
ing channels and immediate entrances, and lighthouses and post
lights marking minor entrances, inside channels, dangers, and river
channels.
The problems to be solved in providing an effective light for the
mariner are: most useful location, suitable illuminant, lamp and op-
tical arrangement to give the required luminous range, height of the
light for the proper geographic range, and distinctive characteristic
to avoid confusion with other lighted aids as well as lights for other
purposes.
Because of expense involved, the number of lights must of course be
restricted to the most essential locations. They are placed as near
as practicable to the track of vessels, or to the outer limit of the danger
to be marked ; large expenditures have sometimes been made so as to
place a lighthouse in the position most protective to shipping. The
geographic range, depending on the height of the focal plane above sea
level, is for the primary lights on low coasts about 20 nautical miles,
this distance being sufficient for general navigational purposes. This
requires a tower of from 150 to 200 feet, depending on the elevation of
the observer on the ship. Adding another 100 feet to the height of a
tower of 200 feet increases the distance of visibility only 3V2 nautical
miles.
Illuminants and lighting apparatus. — For illuminant, the primary
coast lights of this country now use kerosene burned in incandescent
oil vapor lamps. In this lamp the kerosene, forced into the vapor-
izer by air pressure, is heated and vaporized, and is burned mixed with
air under a mantle, which is thus brought to a brilliant incandescence.
This lamp gives one candlepower of the bare light for about ^/i gallon
of kerosene a year, as against 6 gallons a year per candlepower for the
Argand wick lamp, thus increasing the illuminating efficiency of the
oil about 8 times. As an example, when the oil vapor lamp was installed
at Cape Hatteras lighthouse the power of the light was increased from
27,000 to 80,000 candles, and the consumption of oil was reduced
from 2,300 to 1,000 gallons a year. Next to kerosene, acetylene gas
is the most widely used illuminant, supplying nearly 1,000 lights in
this service, for the most part unattended beacons on shore, and gas
buoys. These are nearly all supplied with compressed gas dissolved
in acetone, in tanks filled with a porous substance; the acetone has the
JUNE 19, 1922 PUTNAM: lighthouse; service 281
remarkable power of absorbing many times its own volume of gas.
This makes a safe and economical system for unattended lights and
buoys. Electricity is not generally used at primary lights because
of expense, sufficient illuminating power being obtained at much less
cost with the oil vapor lamp ; electricity is, however, used with great
advantage at some stations where supply of current is available, par-
ticularly at harbor stations where distant control is desirable, as a
station at the end of a breakwater where the light may be controlled
from the shore end. An automatic arrangement for exchanging lamps
in case of burnout is used.
The early lighthouses were lighted with open fires, and tallow can-
dles were used at the Eddy stone light for more than a hundred years.
Although lighthouses have aided the mariner for more than 2,000
years, most of the progress in illuminating apparatus and fog signals
has been made during the last century. A hundred years ago coal
fires and tallow candles had only recently been abandoned at impor-
tant lighthouses in England, guns were still used as fog signals, and no
outside lightship had yet been moored off the coast of this country.
The French physicist, Fresnel, in 1822, a hundred years ago this year
made the greatest single step in the improvement of illuminating ap-
paratus by developing a built-up annular lens surrounded by rings of
glass prisms, the central portions of which refract and the outer por-
tions both reflect and refract the light from a single source lamp
placed at the focus. This lens was for a fixed light, and its effect was
to concentrate the light in a plane useful to the mariner, but distributed
around the horizon. Great progress has since been made by the use
of lenses constructed in panels, and rotated, thus concentrating
the light in beams sweeping around the horizon, and showing to the
mariner a flash or group of flashes with definite characteristic. Great
illuminating efficiency and much reduced cost have been obtained with
such apparatus, by using smaller lenses, concentrating the light through
a small number of panels, and revolving at high speed. The latter is
made possible by carrying the weight of the rotating lens in mercury
in an annular trough . The following comparison shows the great ad-
vantage of the modern lens arrangement : At Seguin, Maine, with first
order lens 72 inches in diameter, the light, which is fixed, has 22,000
candlepower. At Molokai, Hawaii, there is a second order two panel
lens, 55 inches in diameter, revolving once in 20 seconds, and giving
each 10 seconds a flash of 620,000 candlepower. At the latter the cost
of oil per candlepower per year is only about Vso of a cent. With the
284 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
powerful sound in air signals may be heard varies greatly, and under
unfavorable weather conditions such signals can be heard only at a
moderate distance, affording scant protection; there are many cases
of aberration of the sound, the signal being lost and again picked
up at a greater distance, and no means are available to the ordinary
navigator of taking a definite bearing on a sound fog signal.
The steam whistle is a fog signal formerly extensively used; an
important objection to it is the time required to get it in operation, as
fog may come with but brief warning and the signal should be in oper-
ation at once. The most effective sound-producing fog signals are
the siren and the diaphone using compressed air supplied by air com-
pressors, driven by internal combustion engines. These signals have
distinctive notes, and can be started very quickly on the approach of
fog. In the standard form of siren now used in the Lighthouse Ser-
vice, a hollow cylinder or rotor, 6 inches in diameter with peripheral
slots is revolved in a casing with similar slots, leading to a horn or
trumpet. The blasts are controlled by clockwork, giving a charac-
teristic signal at each station. The diaphone is an instrument similar
to the siren, but having a reciprocating motion instead of a rotary
one.
Sounding buoys, operated automatically by the sea, are much used
aids, and serve a very valuable purpose within moderate distances.
The greater number are the familiar bell buoys; a modification of
this has recently been made, obtaining a chime effect by means of
several sizes of gongs, with clappers striking alternately. Bell buoys
are so balanced as to operate with every slight motion of the waves.
The whistling buoy is an American invention, and is a valuable aid
where there is sufficient sea to operate it effectively. Submarine
bells have been installed on buoys, the movement of the buoy operating
a large vane, which winds a spring actuating the striking mechanism.
The most valuable recent improvement is the installation on a buoy of
a bell operated by carbonic acid gas. The gas tanks are placed in
receptacles in the buoy, and the bell is struck at uniform intervals by
a piston actuated by the gas pressure.
About half a century ago considerable research work in sound as af-
fecting fog signals was done by Joseph Henry, then chairman of the
Lighthouse Board, as well as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, and the results were collected in the latter's report for 1878.
About 20 years ago elaborate comparative tests of fog signal apparatus
were conducted by the Trinity House of London, at St. Catherines Point,
JUNE 19, 1922 PUTNAM: LIGHTHOUSE SERVICE 285
Isle of Wight, with the advice of Lord Rayleigh. In recent years com-
parative tests of apparatus have been made by the Lighthouse Ser-
vice from time to time, and the fog signal station at Execution Rocks
in Long Island Sound has recently been fitted up for systematic tests.
Lighthouse construction and engineering. — Unusual engineering prob-
lems are involved in the lighthouse work both in the fixed and floating
structures. Most of the important lighthouses have been built on
exposed sites, and many on submarine sites, or partially submerged
reefs, involving difficult engineering design and construction. The
problems will be illustrated by a few examples. Minots Ledge light-
house, south of Boston, was built on a reef bare only at low water and
for a small area, and exposed to the Atlantic. The reef had to be cut
to receive the foundation of the tower; during the first year only 130
working hours were obtained on the rock, and the work was prosecuted
for more than 3 years before a single stone was laid. After 5 years'
work a massive stone tower was erected, which has now stood for over
60 years; on occasions the waves go over the top of the tower, 97
feet above the water.
On the Pacific coast, a notable lighthouse is that at Tillamook
Rock, south of the mouth of the Columbia River. Here the top of the
rock had to be blasted off to give a site for the structure, and special
protection had to be provided for workmen and materials, as in storms
the waves go over the entire rock. The lantern of the completed struc-
ture is 133 feet above the sea, but in severe storms rocks have been
thrown through the lantern glass.
A number of lighthouses have been erected in open water on sand
bottom, with caissons sunk by the pneumatic process. The first so
built in this country was the Fourteen Foot Bank lighthouse in Del-
aware Bay, standing in 20 feet of water. The caisson was sunk to a
depth of 33 feet into the sand, using a timber working chamber 40
feet square.
Marking the edge of the Florida reefs are six tall iron lighthouses,
five of which stand in shallow water. As the material of the coral
reefs was not solid enough to sustain on piles alone the weight of these
towers, from 115 to 160 feet in height, sufficient support was obtained
by driving wrought iron piles into the coral, to a shoulder resting against
iron discs 8 feet in diameter, giving a large bearing on the surface of
the coral.
Vessels and floating aids. — More than half of the aids maintained
are floating, and these are of great value to mariners, as they can be
286 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
placed directly at the point most useful in marking a danger, or in de-
fining a safe course; they have the disadvantage of being liable to
be displaced or sunk, but this is to some extent overcome by improved
design, heavier moorings, and constant watchfulness by the Lighthouse
Service vessels and people.
The Service has about 120 vessels in commission, light vessels or
floating lighthouses, and tenders, or supply steamers. Both of these
classes require vessels of special design. Important problems of naval
architecture have to be solved, particularly in the plans for the light
vessels. This country maintains these on 49 stations, of which 22
are exposed stations in the open sea. To remain anchored on a sta-
tion off the coast, exposed to the full force of storms, is a service
not expected of any other ship, and for a long time difficulty was had
in designing vessels that would meet the requirements. It was 73
years from the first attempt before a lightship was successfully main-
tained on Diamond Shoal off Cape Hatteras, and because of this diffi-
culty elaborate attempts involving possible large expenditures, were
made to build a lighthouse on the Outer Diamond Shoal. In the
design of lightships, the lines are shaped to control the rolling and the
easy riding of the vessel in a seaway. The framing is heavy, and
ample water-tight bulkheads are provided. Flush deck construction
is used with a minimum of upper works, so as to allow seas to sweep
over the vessel. The bow is high to ride the seas. The largest light
vessels in this Service are only about 135 feet in length. They are
moored with mushroom anchors up to 7500 pounds in weight on the
exposed stations, with heavy mooring chains, 180 fathoms or 1,080
feet in length, weighing approximately 28,000 pounds. The chain
passes through a hawse pipe in the stem, near the water line, so that
the vessel may ride as easily as possible. Lightships anchored in the
more exposed positions are subjected to most severe treatment by
the combination of gales and cross currents, and every precaution is
taken to secure their safety, and their remaining on station. The
modern vessels are self-propelled, and the strain on the mooring chains
during storms is relieved by judicious use of the propelling machinery.
At a few stations a spherical mooring buoy is shackled to a submerged
portion of the chain to carry a part of the weight and ease the strains
due to the vessel surging.
The lighthouse tenders are the supply and construction vessels,
and care for the buoys and lightships. They are equipped with
powerful hoisting gear for handling the heavy buoys and moorings,
JUNE 19, 1922 PUTNAM: lighthouse service 287
and have large open deck space forward for the stowage of buoys.
They must be of moderate draft so as to go into close waters to place
the buoys, and at the same time must be good sea boats, for their work
takes them out to sea, some times under severe weather conditions.
The Service maintains many types of buoys, of which the most im-
portant are the lighted buoys, and the sounding buoys, already men-
tioned. The other buoys are of iron or wood, and indicate by their
color and number their position with respect to the channel.
Problems in Alaska. — ^There are special problems to be met in some
regions, as for instance Alaska. Here water navigation is very im-
portant, as the territory is largely dependent on it for transportation,
and the conditions as to fog, reefs and rock-bound coasts, and water
depths render navigation difficult. The remoteness makes light-
house maintenance expensive, particularly for attended stations,
and because of the very extensive coast line as complete a system of
aids as on the North Atlantic coast would be beyond the financial
resources of the government. In the past 12 years the number of
aids in Alaska has been increased more than threefold, and many lights,
suitable for the inside passages, have been added at moderate main-
tenance expense by the installation of acetylene gas apparatus. Im-
portant additions are still needed, particularly in the way of fog sig-
nals.
The U. S. Lighthouse Service. — In closing I will briefly refer to the
Lighthouse Service in general. It lights and marks all the coasts and
interior navigable waters of the United States and its possessions ex-
cepting the Philippine Islands and Panama. It maintains 16,000 aids
to navigation and is the most extensive service of its kind in the world
under one organization. It is conducted through 19 lighthouse dis-
tricts, each under a Superintendent, who is charged with a wide local re-
sponsibilty for the proper upkeep of the district. The responsible
officers of the Service are engineers or other technical men, with long
experience in the work. There is on Staten Island, New York Harbor,
a general supply station, and shops where considerable special equip-
ment is manufactured for the Service, and where some tests and
experimental work are carried on. The Service makes very extensive
application of the results of scientific research, but it has, however,
not attempted to establish any large research division, because of
the existence in the Department of Commerce of the Bureau of
Standards, and the excellent assistance and cooperation given by that
organization.
288 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
The first lighthouse in this country was built by Massachusetts at
Boston, in 1716, and this station is still in operation. Several other
lighthouses were built by the colonies. The maintenance of the
lighthouse system was the first public work, or work of a technical
character, undertaken by the United States Government, being pro-
vided for at the first session of Congress in 1789.
CRYSTALLOGRAPHY. — Crystallographic-optical properties of cal-
cium Jumar ate and maleate} Edgar T. Wherry and Raymond
M. Hann, Bureau of Chemistry.
Crystals of these salts do not appear to have been measured here-
tofore. They are, however, of interest in that the acids represent a
simple case of stereoisomerism, so we have prepared them and studied
them in detail.
CALCIUM FUMARATE, Ca(C4H204) . 2H2O
Preparation. — The fumaric acid was obtained from a commercial
firm now making it in a high state of purity by a catalytic process.
After several trials the following plan was found to yield the best
crystals of the calcium salt: Dissolve 2V2 grams of fumaric acid in
50 cc. of water, heat to boiling, neutralize with 30% KOH solution,
and then acidify slightly by the addition of a small amount of the acid.
To the boiling solution add an equal volume of 5% CaCl2 solution and
continue boiling until a slight turbidity appears. Filter the solution,
cover loosely and allow to stand for several weeks. Groups of blade-
like crystals as much as 2 mm. in length then separate out. Before
removing them for study the solution is best placed in a cold place for
a time to cause the crystals to take up material and repair any corro-
sion which their faces may have suffered.
Composition. — -On ignition the salt was found to yield a residue of
CaO equivalent to 28.47%, indicating the presence of 2 molecules of
water of crystallization (theory, 29.5%).
Crystallography . — -It was found that where crystals lay close to-
gether in groups their angles were somewhat distorted, but it was pos-
sible to pick out several fairly free from such disturbances, and five
of these were submitted to crystallographic measurement. They are
orthorhombic and tabular on a pinacoid, with marginal dome-prism
forms.
In an orthorhombic crystal a choice of six orientations is open to the
^ Contribution from the Analytical Reagents Investigation Laboratory and Laboratory
of Crystallographer. Received May 20, 1922.
JUNE 19, 1922 WHERRY AND hann: calcium fumarate and maleate 289
describer; and in the present substance the single pinacoid present
might be made either a, h, or c, while in each of these cases the dome-
prism forms might be placed in either of two positions. The conven-
tional rule about such matters is to place the direction of greatest elonga-
tion vertical, and make a dominant pinacoid face h. When this is
done for calcium fumarate, its angle data come out as shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1. — Angles of calcium fumarate in conventional orientation.
Orthorhombic; a : b : c = 0.3970 : 1 : 0.3772 (po = 0.9503; qo = 0.3772).
Number Symbols Angles Observed
Letter Gdt. Mill. Description >p p
lb Ox 010 Dominant form 0°00' 90°00'
2 m 00 110 Longer marginal form 68°21' 90°00'
3 q 01 Oil Shorter marginal form 0°00' 20°40'
It may be noted that this substance lies very near to the mineral
columbite, FeCb206, which, in corresponding orientation, has a : 5 -.c =
0.4023 : 1 : 0.3580.
There is, however, another method of orientation which in many
respects seem preferable, namely, that worked out by the late Professor
E. S. Fedorov.- Unfortunately his rules have not yet been made
available to non-Russian readers in complete form. The first step
seems to be to bring the crystal into that orientation which shall
show most clearly its relationship to a system of higher symmetry.
In the present case, it takes but brief inspection of the habit to realize
that this substance approaches the tetragonal system if the large pin-
acoid is made the base, and this is the orientation adopted for the
second angle table. The substance is, in fact, as far as the angles go,
markedly peri tetragonal. According to Fedorov,^ the tabular habit
perpendicular to axis c indicates that the axial ratio should be strongly
positive — ^that is, axis c should be much greater than the others. As
a matter of fact, whichever axis is taken as b, the value of c is greater
than 2V2, so that thus far the relations are normal.
Next there is a choice between making the dome with the smaller
rho angle the side dome or the front dome; in the former position,
axis a would be less than axis b, in the latter, greater than b. Since b
is by convention taken as the unit axis, it seems preferable to make a
greater than b, and as this also agrees with Fedorov' s rule, the greater
elongation of the crystal being toward the greater rho, the dome with
the smaller rho angle has been turned to the front, that is, made form
(101). The dome with the larger rho angle then becomes (Oil), and
2 Z. Kryst. Min. 50: 513. 1912.
^ Loc. cit.
Number
letter
Symbols
Gdt. Mill.
Ic
1 001
2e
01 Oil
3d
10 101
1 111
Angles
Observe
>P
p
. - . .
0°00'
0°00'
69°20'
90°00'
68^21'
43°32'
74°43'
290 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
the axial ratio given at the head of the angle table is the result. Fe-
dorov termed the orientations worked out on the basis of his rules the
"correct setting," but any one of the six orientations of an orthorhom-
bic crystal is just as correct as any other, so the term "significant" is
preferred, since what is meant is that orientation which best brings
out the relations of the crystal to other systems.
TABLE 2. — Angles of calcium fumarate in significant orientation
Orthorhombic; a:b -.c = 1.0523 : 1 : 2.6510 (po = 2.5193; qo = 2.6510). Peritetrag-
onal, with deviation of prism angle <p from the tetragonal value = 1 °28'.
Description
Dominant form
Narrow but brilliant
Like e, but longer
(Calculated)
The crystals are usually distorted in such a manner that one dome
face of each pair is decidedly larger than the other, the symmetry be-
ing thus ecto-hemimorphic. Their average habit is shown in Figure 1.
Space relations. — The topic axes of the substance were next cal-
culated. As the usual plan for doing this obscures the relations some-
what, it becomes preferable to first calculate unit-volume axes, which
differ from the usual crystal axes in that axis b is no longer taken as
unity, but is reduced to such a value that the product of all their axes
equals one. The unit volume axes may be distinguished from the
ordinary axes by the use of capital letters. The formulas used are:
A = '^a'^/c; B = A/a; C = c X B. Using the values obtained from
the significant orientation of Table 2, the results are: A : B : C =
0.7475 : 0.7104 : 1.8832.
The molecular weight of calcium fumarate, Ca(C4H204) .2H2O, is
190.1. Its specific gravity was determined by suspending a few
crystals in a mixture of carbon tetrachloride and bromoform, the
amounts of the constituents being varied until the crystals remained
suspended, when the specific gravity of the liquid was obtained with
a Westphal balance. As variation from one crystal to another was
shown, some floating in the same liquid in which others sank, it would
be meaningless to state the result beyond the second place; it was
1.71 =<= 0.01. The molecular volume is accordingly 111.2 and the
cube root of it 4.81. Multiplying the unit-volume axes by this fac-
tor, the topic axes are : x '• '4^ '■ ^ = 3.60 : 3.42 : 9.06.
Optical properties. — Study by the immersion method under the
polarizing microscope shows calcium fumarate to be biaxial negative
JUNE 19, 1922 WHERRY AND HANN: CALCIUM FUMARATE AND MALEATE 291
with a small axial angle, but extreme double refraction. It has the form
of rectangular plates and irregular angular fragments, with refractive
indices of a = 1.413, 0 = 1.602 and y = 1.611, all ±0.003.
The double refraction is thus 0.198, and 2V calcd. = 22°24', 2E
calcd. = 36°16', 2E obs. = 37° ± 1°. The optical orientation,
however, is not what might have been expected from the peritetragonal
crystal form ; for X = a, Y = b and Z = c, so that perpendicular to
the pinacoid it is not the acute but the obtuse bisectrix which is visible.
The mean refractive index n = 1.539, from which the refractivity
may be derived, using the formula M = VX {n- — l)/(w- + 2) {V
being molecular volume, already determined). This gives M = 34.8,
the significance of which value is discussed after the data for calcium
maleate are given,
CAI.CIUM MALEATE, Ca(C4H204) . H2O
Preparation. — A number of unsuccessful attempts were made to
prepare this salt in a form suitable for crystallographic measurement,
but the crystals were in general too minute to handle. After experi-
menting to determine the best strengths of the solution to employ, the
following plan was adopted, the acid used coming from the same
source as the fumarate: Dissolve 5 grams of maleic acid in 50 cc. of
H2O, heat to boiling, neutralize with 30% KOH solution, and slightly
acidify with additional acid. To the boiling solution add an equal
volume of boiling 10% CaCl2 solution, and continue boiling until the
slight bumping which often precedes precipitation is noticed. Filter
rapidly into a vessel kept at about 80°, by immersion in a large water
bath, cover closely and allow the bath to cool. When cooling is rapid,
rosette groups of needle-like crystals form; when it is gradual, a con-
tinuous crust, which ultimately develops into interlacing needles, de-
posits. After some days the vessel is placed on ice for a time and the
crystals are removed and dried.
Composition .■ — ^On ignition the salt was found to yield a residue of CaO
equivalent to 32.38%, showing the presence of one molecule of water
of crystallization (theory 32.6%).
Crystallography . — The crystals obtained are not altogether satis-
factory, for although the prism faces are fairly well developed and do
not give excessive variation in angles, the terminations seem always to
be dull or rounded. However, by measuring ten crystals and taking
the average values of the angles a fairly close approximation to the
probable values could be obtained. It is noteworthy that the more
292 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
rapidly cooling crystals had a series of steep domes forming a more or
less continuous curve, while those that cooled more slowly had but a
single flat dome. The system, as with the fumarate, is orthorhombic.
-. In standard orientation, placing the direction of elongation vertical
and the pinacoid at the side, the angles of Table 3 are obtained.
TABLE 3. — Angles of calcium maleate in standard orientation
Orthorhombic; a : h : c = 0.779 : 1 : 0.643 (po = 0.825; qo = 0.643).
Angles Observed
Description ^ p
Narrow and sometimes lacking 0°00' 90°00'
Dominant form 52 °05 ' 90 °00 '
Principal termination 0 °00 ' 32 °45 '
Part of long curved form 0°00' 76° ±
Part of long curved form 0°00' 79°="=
This is close to the mineral chalcostibite (wolfsbergite), CuSbS2,
which has a : b : c = 0.8026 : 1 : 0.6275.
In this case as before the standard orientation is not the significant
one, for the prism angle is over 7° away from the theory for the tet-
ragonal, while the principal dome has a phi angle less than 3° away
from the theory for a more symmetrical system, in this case the hexag-
onal. Turning the pinacoid to the front, in order to make axis h
the shortest one, this gives the angles and axial values of Table 4 and
Figure 1.
TABLE 4. — Angles of calcium malEate in significant orientation
Orthorhombic; a : b : c = 1.555 : 1 : 1.211 (pn = 0.779; qo = 1.211). Peri-
hexagonal, with deviation of prism angle tp from theory for hexagonal 2 °45'.
>Jumber
letter
Symbols
Gdt. Mill.
1 b
0=0 010
2 m
00 no
3q
01 on
4r
.06 061
5s
08 081
Number
Symbols
Angles
Observed Calculated
letter
Gdt. Mill.
Description
V
P P P
1 a OC
i 0 100
Narrow and sometimes lacking
90°00'
90°00' 90°00' 90°00'
2k
800 810
Part of long curve
79 o±
90°00' 79°00' 90°00'
31
6 a) 610
Brightest part of long curve
76 °±
90°00' 75°28' 90°00'
4 m
00 no
Principal terminal form
32°45'
90°00' (32°45') 90°00'
5d
10 101
Dominant form
90°00'
37°55' 90°00' (37°55')
. • .
1 111
(Calculated)
....
.... 32°45' 55°13'
Space relations. — Calculating the unit-volume axes as before, the
results are: A : 5 : C = 1 .259 : 0.810 : 0.981. The specific gravity
determined by the same method as in the preceding case, was de-
cidedly greater, 1 . 84 =i= 0.01. The molecular weight being 172 . 1, this
gives the molecular volume 93 . 5 and its cube root 4 . 54, making the
topic axes x : 'A : <^ = 5.72 : 3.68 : 4.45. No relation can be traced
with the corresponding values for the fumarate.
Optical properties. — Calcium maleate is like the fumarate biaxial
and negative, but its refractive indices are much higher and the double
JUNE 19, 1922 WHERRY AND HANN: CALCIUM FUMARATE AND MALEATE 293
>
■^
Fig. 1. Lower figures, calcium fumarate; upper figures, calcium
maleate.
294 JOURNAL OF the; WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOL. 12, NO. 12
CO
d
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JUNE 19, 1922 WHERRY AND hann: calcium fumarate and maleate 295
refraction weaker. It appears under the microscope in rods or frag-
ments, with the indices: a = 1.495, /3 = 1.580, y = 1.640, all
±0.003, making the double refraction 0.145. The axial angle 2V is
calculated to be 77°36', and 2E 164°; this is too great an angle to
be determined by the immersion method. The orientation is A'= c,
Y = a, and Z = b, so, as in the case of the fumarate, the longer crystal
axes do not correspond to the lesser refractive indices. The mean
n = 1.571 gives, on the same basis as before, the refractivity 30.8.
DISCUSSION OF THE REFRACTIVITY DATA
The refractivities of the elements other than calcium used are those
of Eisenlohr:^ C = 2.4, 0= = 2.2, —0— = 1.5, and H = 1.1.
In calcium formate two entirely separate acid radicles are present,
so the difference between the total refractivity and that calculated
for the elements of the radicle may be regarded as the normal value for
calcium. It is 4.9.
In calcium oxide X-ray study has shown the atoms to be arranged
as shown, with directions of attraction (electrostatic) also perpendicu-
lar to the paper. This represents but little strain, and the additional
refractivity due to the structure is slight. In the oxalate the calcium
unites the two ends of the radicle into a ring, and as would be expected
this produces a slightly higher extra refractivity.
In calcium maleate a double bond is present, which according to
Eisenlohr produces in any case an extra refractivity of 1.0; but in
addition the calcium unites two ends of the radicle. The ring pro-
duced in this case is much larger than that of the oxalate, and the
double bond forms part of the ring, so that an additional strain must
be represented ; and this is seen to produce an excess of refractivity
of 2.0.
The most complex of all of the compounds considered is calcium
fumarate, which not only has the calcium uniting the ends of the radi-
cle into a ring, but also, because the position of the substituting
groups with respect to the double bond, has an irregular ring. Still
more excess refractivity than in the maleate would be expected, and
as a matter of fact the calculation gives 2.3.
SUMMARY
The preparation and crystallographic-optical properties of calcium
fumarate and maleate are described. Both are orthorhombic, but
they show no definite space relationships. From a calculation of the
^ Spektrochemie Organischer Verbindungen, p. 48. 1912.
296 JOURNAL OF THE WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES VOIv. 12, NO. 12
refractivities it appears that their peculiar structures lead to a definite
extra refractivity, greater in the case of the less symmetrical fumarate.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY AND AFFILIATED
SOCIETIES
BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
632d MEETING
The 632d meeting of the Biological Society was held in the auditorium of
the National Museum, at 8 p.m., on Jan. 4, 1922, in cooperation with the
Audubon Society and the Wild Flower Preservation Society, with Presi-
dent Bailey in the chair. Mr. Stephen T. Mather, of the National Park
Service, introduced the speaker of the evening, Mr. Arthur C. Pillsbury,
official photographer of the Yosemite National Park.
Mr. Pillsbury's subject was Wild flowers and birds of Yosemite National
Park. It was illustrated with moving pictures showing birds, flowers, and
scenery of Yosemite Park. A striking feature was the exhibition of some
twenty or more series of pictures showing the opening of the buds of as
many different kinds of flowers; the exposures were taken at fifteen min-
ute intervals, so that as projected on the screen the opening was accelerated
several thousand times.
633d meeting
The 633d meeting of the Biological Society was held in the lecture hall of
the Cosmos Club on Jan. 21, 1922, with President BailEy in the chair.
The following persons were elected members: Miss Lucy Howard, Har-
old M. Vars, Herbert F. Prytherch, and Arthur H. Fisher. The
President appointed Messrs. Rohwer, Jackson, Chambliss, and Coker
as a Committee on communications.
Under general notes. Dr. R. W. ShuFELDT exhibited a new biography of
the well known British ornithologist Alfred NewTON, by Wollaston.
Dr. ShufeldT showed lantern slides of Professor Newton from several pictures,
also some other slides illustrating the biography.
Mr. Hoffman showed a specimen of Attacus edwardsii, one of the largest
known moths, from India.
Major Goldman reported having attended an organization meeting of
the Boston Bird-Banding Society, which recently occurred.
Mr. Williams reported hundreds of starlings congregating and roosting on
the Hughes Building near the Cosmos Club, as many as 400 or 500, he esti-
mated. They seem to chirp all night.
The following program was given:
S. F. HiLDEBRAND : Fish in relation to mosquito control.
The speaker had been employed in the summer of 1921 to introduce fish
into mosquito-breeding waters about Savannah, Ga.
The top minnow, Gamhusia affinis, is altogether the best fish for introduc-
tion, although all small fish will feed on mosquito larvae under favorable con-
ditions. The top minnow is viviparous, hence does not have complicated
nesting habits to be taken into consideration. It is a, prolific and hardy fish
and never outgrows the mosquito-eating size. With the aid of a large number
of lantern slides the speaker discussed the effect of various kinds of vegeta-
JUNE 19, 1922 proceedings: biologicaIv society 297
tion in the water in protecting or screening the larvae from the fish, as well as
other factors having an influence upon the matter.
Major Goldman asked if the top minnow could be introduced outside its
normal range. The speaker said it has winter-killed in the Mississippi Val-
ley to a considerable extent.
President BailEy remarked that lily pads are eaten by beavers, and silver
grass by muskrats, which would reduce the mosquito protection where these
animals occur.
H. L. Shantz : Notes on the white ants of Africa.
The speaker in his extensive explorations of Central and South Africa had
continually come into contact with termite nests, as they are generally
conspicuous objects. They tell the color of the soil at a glance. There are
many types, which were illustrated with lantern slides, some colored. Where
large hills stand a long time and disintegrate, the earth is richer than else-
where, and natives select such places for cultivation.
Discussed by Mr. Rohwer and Mr. White, who compared the local spe-
cies about Washington, in their aversion to light, etc. Mr. White said the
local species are very beneficial on his farm by eating out stumps, which thus
decay much more rapidly ; a 4-inch stump is often eaten almost wholly out
in a 3'^ear. They damage apple trees where wounds occur, making a mud
tunnel up the bark.
Major Goldman recalled the statement in Drummond's Tropical Africa,
that termites there perform for the soil a service like that of earthworms in
temperate countries, passing the soil through their bodies and enriching it.
Dr. Shufeldt described the orientation of a true ant at Savannah, with
reference to its path.
C. D WIGHT Marsh: Live stock poisoning by death camas.
Stockmen on the western stock ranges suffer very heavy losses of sheep
from poisonous plants. Probably of all the plants those which cause the great-
est destruction are those commonly known as death camas, which are species
of the botanical genus Zygadenus. Losses of hundreds of sheep within 24
or 4S hours are not at all unusual. These plants have been known to be
poisonous for nearly a century, but definite knowledge in regard to their
properties has only been acquired within the last 20 or 25 years. The plants
poison horses and cattle as well as sheep, but the principal losses have been of
sheep.
Death camas grows widely distributed over the ranges from the Rocky
Mountains westward.
The U. S. Department of Agriculture has made detailed studies of death
camas poisoning, and it was assumed that all forms of the plant were about
equally poisonous. Recent studies, however, have brought out important
facts in regard to their relative toxicity.
There are four common species of death camas on the western ranges, and
it has been found that two are much more poisonous than the others, while
one species that has always been considered dangerous has so little toxicity
that probably under range conditions it never causes any losses. The most
poisonous species is without doubt that growing in Montana and Wyoming.
A California species is equally injurious as far as causing sickness is con-
cerned, but produces fewer deaths. The results of the studies made have
indicated clearly the comparative danger from these species and have also
shown what measures can be taken to avoid losses.
298 journaiv of the washington academy of sciences voi^. 12, no. 12
634th meeting
The 634th meeting was held at the Cosmos Club on Feb. 4, 1922, with Pres-
ident Bailey in the chair and 55 persons present.
Under Brief notes, Dr. L. O. Howard said that he had noticed in the Annals
of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology for September 30 last an illustration
showing a botfly larva attached to a tapeworm, but there was no reference to
it in the text. He wrote to Professor Robert Newstead of the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine, inquiring about